She Spoke First
by Nadie2
Summary: After the Zatarc test Sam spoke first, and she wanted to leave it in the room. In this story Jack had other plans, and it doesn't take him too long to find his voice. Lots of fluff, a little love, and of course family coming their way.
1. Then he spoke

Carter was always talking, so it only made sense that she spoke first.

"Sir, none of this has to leave this room," she'd blurted. There was fear behind those gorgeous blue eyes.

It's not what he would have said. He would have said something like, "Let's go talk to the General" or "I'm sorry I didn't say more about my feelings, that lady Tok'ra with the crush on me made it weird" or "hey, Carter, you're a national treasure, wanna get a pizza?"

But she spoke first, and there was fear behind her eyes as she spoke so he wasn't going to say any of the things that he meant. "We're okay with that?" he asks.

"Yes," she nods. Eager. Relieved.

He's not okay with it, but he's not going to tell her.

He's her superior officer. If he ever did or said _anything_ it would be sexual harassment. Even thinking the thoughts that ran around his head every single day was a betrayal of the frat rules. If they ever acted on anything, it would be her career that took the hit, not his.

She wanted to leave it in the room, and so he would.

Only it wasn't really fair, was it? She realized that the stupid xanex detectors weren't working because of their feelings. So does she sit down in the chair and let them do their mind reading voodoo on her? No, of course not, they plop his butt down in the chair.

"I care for her a lot more than I'm supposed to."

That's it? That's all he gave her? It's not like he was all touchy feely about his emotions or anything - just ask his ex-wife. But he felt like his declaration of feelings for the great Samantha Carter should have been more than this.

Of course, his declaration of feelings for her also shouldn't have come in front of a bunch of aliens, and the good Dr. Fraiser. Not that he minded Fraiser so much. He was pretty sure the good doctor had known about their mutual feelings for a long time.

Anyway, it wasn't like Sam had said much more about him.

"I couldn't stand the thought of him dying, not him."

That was enough. That, and that stupid facial expression had apparently been enough for the xanex detector.

If only he could make facial expressions like that he would have been able to hide the truth better, and then he wouldn't have had to share so much of his soul.

Of course, maybe she just didn't have as much to share. Maybe she just didn't feel as deeply about him as he felt about her. Maybe that's why she was ok with leaving it in the room.

He really wasn't anymore. That was the thing about love though. When you love someone you will do whatever they want you to do, even if it kills you.

Carter wants it left in the room. It stays in the room.

-0-

"Sam, are you ok?" Daniel asks staring across the table from her. It's a habit that they got into when they first became a team. He'd work in her lab, she'd work in office. Sometimes they were working on something together, most of the time they were not. At first it was a way of building up team unity, but by this point it was just a way of staving off the horrid loneness that was their life.

"Yeah," she says.

"It must have been scary when they decided to put you to sleep for goodness only knows how long," Daniel says staring at his friend. For someone whose job it is to make peace with natives he really isn't that good with social clues.

She just nods, hoping he would move on.

"I'm still a little unclear on how exactly you guys proved you weren't xatarcs," Daniel says gently.

She sighs, and used her patented answer, "I just knew." Hey, it worked for Cassie, it should work now.

"I wasn't asking how you figured it out, I was asking how you proved it," he presses.

"Daniel, can we not do this?" she asks.

He sighs, as exhausted by the never cans as she is. "If that's what you want, Sam."

"It is what _we_ want, the Colonel and I," she says.

Daniel doesn't call BS on them, because it doesn't seem like the kind of thing that friends should do.

-0-

She didn't want to take it out of the room, and he was going to respect it. He really was. Time loop or not, it would be a violation to start a relationship with someone that you know didn't want you.

Well, at least that is what he thought until he'd lost track of how many time loops he's been through, and lost all hope that the time loops were ever going to end. It felt like it had been an eternity.

So he resigned, and he kissed her, and she kissed him back. It was worth the resignation to him.

Still, she'd said that she wanted to leave it in the room, but maybe… maybe she'd didn't know what another answer would have meant. Maybe she'd assumed that it meant she had to give up everything she'd ever dreamed of. Maybe she thought that it meant that they were going to sneak around, get caught, and ruin both of their careers.

Maybe she had just never considered that he would be the one to give up something.

Then again, maybe he just wasn't good enough.

Either way, he wasn't sure he could deal with the uncertainly.

-0-

 _Three days later:_

"Hey, Carter," Jack says, entering her lab. He sits down on a stool. The first year she didn't understand her commanding officer very well, and he used to make her nervous. She always thought he had a motive for every encounter. Now she knows him well enough to know his main motive is just checking on those under his command - mentally, emotionally, and in her case scientifically, too.

She smiles and nods, and he just sits.

It works for them.

"My house at seven?" he says, standing.

"Good, it's been a while since we had a team night," she says.

He channels Teal'c in order to show no reaction to this. He should have known. She is so careful about never being alone with him, but they really need to talk.

"You've got it, Carter."

-0-

 _The next night:_

"Am I early?" Sam asks as she arrives at Jack's house that night. She always comes to team night twenty minutes late just to avoid this kind of thing.

"Nope, I tricked you, the rest of the team isn't coming," he says.

There is a long second when she tries to figure out if this is one of his strange jokes or not.

"Carter, we need to talk about that room," he says.

She crosses her arms defensively across her body. It's a Daniel move, the team has been together long enough that they have picked up on all of each other's bad habits.

"Sir, I don't think the frat rules have left us a whole lot to talk about," she says, exaggerating the first word just like he really needed a freaking reminder about rank right now.

"See, I think they do. The whole idea of frat rules is that you're not supposed to get too close to people. It doesn't really have anything to do with romance, it says clearly in them that friendship can be as much of a break in frat rules as dating. Not close enough that you ever chose their life over the mission. Well, I think we've both been in the military long enough to know that's crap."

"Sir?" she asks, alarmed.

"Come on, the only airman I know willing to sacrifice one of his team members for the mission was Frank Cromwell, and I think we all know how I felt about _him._ " She nods her head. This is one of those forbidden topics that they never touched on, and he's talking about it, without Daniel nagging him, without Janet threatening him with psychologists, without Hammond puffing out his chest in that way where you just knew his angry voice was about to come out. "It's the way a good airman, hell, a good person works. You can't ask people to risk their lives without feeling that someone has their back, and that's always a break in the frat rules. Besides, on that day the xanex flipped out about, Teal'c wouldn't leave either. Teal'c broke the letter and intent of those frat rules every bit as much as you and I did. We'd do it for the whole team. You know I wouldn't have left Daniel or Teal'c any more than I'd leave you."

"You left Daniel once," she says. There is no bite to the words. She's dealt with what happened on Apophis' ship one way or the other. Jack wasn't sure how she got over the constant trauma that came with being a member of SG-1, but he suspected that Fraiser and wine had something to do with it. He didn't ask questions, as long as it all stayed dealt with.

"Yeah, but I waited for him a lot of times when I shouldn't have, too," he says. He's dealt with what he did to Daniel, too. He'd drunk-dialed the man at three am, and found him still in his freaking office translating something. They'd talked around the issue without ever saying anything real. It worked, though.

Whatever kept you standing. Whatever kept the team functioning. Just go with it, and don't ask questions.

"I still think this conversation is a waste of our time," Sam says, pleading with her eyes to be released from this agony, to be set free to forget it ever happened.

"See, it's not, Carter, because if we dated it wouldn't even matter. There is no way that I could ever feel _more_ for you than I already do."

Terrified eyes meet terrified eyes.

He hadn't meant to say that.

Or maybe he had, it was hard to tell. He'd almost said it during the xanex testing. If there had been two more rounds of "Sir", pleading with him to be more honest it would have been laid bare in front of the Tok'ra and all.

"Sir, you can't quit," she pleads. What will she do if he's not her CO? No-one has ever showed her how to be a leader before. She owes her last promotion to him, not in some sleeping-to-the-top-even-though-we-aren't kind of way, but because he had honestly made her a better officer. There were a lot of asses in the air force who still didn't believe that a woman could do this job. There were also a lot of people who simply didn't take time or risk to instill confidence, tact, and good ole boys charm in a female under their command.

Not to mention the fact that she would see 'dating Jack' way less often than she'd see 'work Colonel', and that just might kill her.

"I think if I just talk to George he will…"

"Give us permission to ignore regs? Or maybe he'll just bump me to another team. Probably SG 16. Have you seen those nerds try to run?" She glares at him as he opens his mouth, "You better not be about to say that I'm a nerd."

"Would never dream of it Carter. I was going to say that I seriously doubt Hammond would reassign based on me coming to him when we haven't done anything besides team things. Worst case _I'll_ ask to be moved to SG-2. It's about time that you had your own command. I wanted to talk to you to make sure you knew that if we did something it wouldn't have to be _your_ career taking the hit."

He says it like he believes it, but Sam is pretty sure that she isn't ready for a long term command. Sure, she'd had command when the Colonel was injured, but that wasn't the same as being in charge of _the_ leading team in contacting alien planets.

"Sam, are you worried about rumors?"

She rolls her eyes like he's treating her like a junior high girl, "Sir, if I didn't want people to talk about me like that, I would never have joined the Air Force. I stopped feeling all sad inside about those 'serving under' jokes by the time I was done with my plebe summer."

She was back to being a tough as nails feminist. That only came out when she felt threatened.

"Look, I'm obviously not going to do anything without your permission, but if you want me to talk to the General…" he says, and he looks just so hopeful.

"Sir, I can't lose you," she whispers, scared.

"I know it's a risk, but either way you're not going to lose me," he says, "And I won't let him take you off SG-1, no matter what."

She sighs her assent before adding, "If the universe dies because of this, it's on you, sir."


	2. Team Night

_The next day_

"General, do you have a minute?" Jack asks.

Hammond pushes a pile of mission reports to the corner of his desk gratefully, and says, "What's on your mind?"

Jack takes a seat without being invited, and then stares at the General in silence for a few seconds. "Teal'c broke frat rags, too."

"What?" the General says.

"No, there was a whole speech, and God only knows why I started in the middle. It was supposed to begin with talking about how important it is for people in this command to rely on each other. Part of that trust involves knowing that we put individuals in front of the mission."

The General nods, "I break frat rules every day. How many times have I left the gate open under fire extra seconds? But I don't regret it. So, tell me Jack, why are we discussing the frat rules?"

Jack fidgets.

The General leans back in his chair, and sighs, "Colonel, I read Anise's report on the Zatarc incident."

"So much for leaving it in the room," he sighs.

"I assume that you two have decided not to leave it in the room anymore?" the General says.

"We haven't done anything yet, sir. Both Carter and myself thought that it would be unethical to begin a romantic relationship unless it was cleared by you. If you say no, we will go back to the way that it was. I especially want to ensure that this will never affect her career."

"No, she has worked much too hard for that," Hammond says, giving Jack a glare which could only be described as 'fatherly'.

Jack fidgets again.

"I'm well aware that SG-1 looks out for one another in a pretty special way," Hammond continues.

"Teal'c wouldn't leave us either!" Jack points out again.

The General smiles, "Usually, I'm not a bit fan of someone getting romantically involved with someone under their command. The biggest reason for that is that it always seems to go badly for the person that is lower ranking. I'm not worried about that here. In part, because if you ever did anything to wrong Carter, I'm pretty sure Teal'c would kill you."

"Indeed," Jack offers up one of this jokes that no-one finds funny apart from him. The General glares at him, and clears his throat.

"If this is going to happen we're going to have to avoid gossip as much as we can. Make no mistake about it, there is going to be plenty of gossip no matter how carefully we go about this. Still, I want you to keep your relationship as quiet as possible until such a time as you put a ring on her finger."

Well, that just got serious fast, Jack thinks with a small amount of panic in his gut. He had almost forgotten than the General was good friends with Sam's dad. How did you forget something like that?

"I'd like to tell my team, sir. I think they deserve that," Jack says.

The General nods.

Then Jack adds, "And Doc Fraiser. I'm sure that Sam would want to tell her."

The General gives another nod. "I think it goes without saying that you won't be doing anything on base or off world. I mean not a hand hold, not an eye glance, not a single romantic syllable leaving your mouth. If anything gets caught on camera, or seen by anyone on this base, or there is an off world incident I will not defend you."

"How quiet should we keep it off-base, Sir?" Jack asks. He's starting to wonder if they are going to be able to have any sort of a relationship outside of their own houses. He knows that there is no small amount of risk of running into an airman from the base each time he wants to go off-base. He just didn't think that official permission to date his second in command would come with so many restrictions that it would still feel like he was sneaking around.

"If someone sees you off-base, I _will_ defend the two of you. It just might not be pleasant," the General says with one of his laughs that never quite make it out of his belly. It's a cold cruel sort of laugh that always makes Jack suddenly think that whatever he is laughing at is the opposite of funny.

"Sir, there is no way that this is going to come back and bite Samantha in the butt is there?" he asks.

The General blinks in surprise at Jack saying Samantha. He's never done that in front of the General before. He's used the name every now again when she did something that reminded him that in addition to being one of the best officers he'd ever served with, a scientific genius, and a kick ass motorcycle mechanic, she was in fact a woman. It's just that those moments didn't tend to happen around the General all that often.

"We won't let it, will we?" Hammond says with a crinkle of true affection around his eyes. The man was lonely, there was no secret about that. It was pretty much a pre-req for getting assigned to this place. Hammond had taken the job right after his wife had died of cancer. One of his daughters was still in college, working on some sort of a post-graduate degree, although Jack could never remember if it was closer to masters or doctorate territory. His other daughter, the one who had given him the two grandkids, lived in town. Hammond saw them a lot, and awful lot, but there was no denying he spent more time with SG-1 in a given week then he did with his family.

"No, sir," Jack says.

"Dismissed," Hammond says, it's important to both of them that there is something official feeling to draw to a close this meeting which felt like it was anything but official.

Jack stands up, and heads to the office of his second and command-the woman he loves. Not that he's going to tell her that yet, he's already gone more than a bit overboard with the confession of feelings. Oh, he is definitely going to make her say the "l love you" first.

-0-

"Sam! My house, seven o'clock!" he announces, coming into the lab.

One set of bright blue eyes, the one he had meant to address, are staring at him with no small amount of horror. Another set, the ones he should have known would be there, are looking at him calmly, "Team night?"

"Yep, Daniel, isn't it your turn to pick the movie?"

"I thought you said he was never allowed to pick the movie again," Sam reminds, desperately trying to get her heart rate back in the normal range.

"I think he learned his lesson. You're not going to have another documentary by an ancient alien theorist are you?" Jack asks with faked horror. Well, at least the horror wasn't because he was afraid of what Daniel was going to pick out to watch.

"You know, we are some of the few people in the world who know their theories are correct, or at least somewhat believable, if we don't watch them who will?" Daniel protests.

"A bunch of nutcases," Jack answers.

"People who stand up for the truth when no-one else believes them are not nutcases," Daniel protests.

"All right Daniel, you bring the documentary. I'll order pizza, and go tell the other member of our team when to show up."

"Seven," Sam repeats in a way that clearly lets on she got the message that he wants her there before that time.

"You've got it," he says, shooting her a wide grin before walking out of the room.

"I think there is something going on with Jack," Daniel says as soon as the man is out of earshot.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Sam says, even though worrying about what was wrong with Jack pretty much summed up her whole plan for the afternoon.

"Oh, I'm not worried, whatever is going on with him is a good thing, I think," Daniel says.

"I hope so," Sam says with a distant look in her eye.

"Sam, is there something going on with _you?_ " Daniel asks, examining her face closely.

"Nope, I'm fine, hunky-dory," Sam says.

Daniel tries to remember when she started to sound like Jack.

-0-

When the doorbell rings at 6:30, Jack is relieve to see that it is Sam on the other side of the door. He was pretty sure that he would have gone crazy if he had to sit through a whole team night having no idea where the two of them stood.

"You looked pretty chipper when you came into my lab earlier, so I assume that the meeting with the General went well," she says.

"It did. He is willing to let us date while staying on the same team, as long as we don't do anything on-base or off-world, and don't tell anyone but Daniel, Teal'c, and Janet. I added that last one thinking that you'd want to tell her," he says. He definitely wants credit for thinking about her feelings. If he remembers correctly from way back the last time that he was in a relationship, women are very big on wanting you to think about their feelings.

"So he wants us to sneak around. What happens if we're caught?" she says, clearly not as excited about the news as he is.

"He wants us to behave professionally on-base. Off-base we don't have to sneak, I asked the same question," he says, nervous when his words don't chase the frown off her face.

"Well, Colorado Springs is a pretty small town, so what is the plan when this all gets out. Who is getting a reassignment?"

"No-one. The General and I agreed that there was going to be no way we would allow this to affect your career," Jack says.

"Great, just what I wanted, two men sitting around talking about my career," she mumbles.

He should have known that angry feminist would be back. He can't really blame her though. The plan had seemed so firm, it had made so much sense when he was sitting in the General's office, but then here, in front of her, it seemed a little weak and poorly thought-out.

"Listen Sam, if you decide that this isn't what you want, that's fine. We can go back to the plan to leave it all in the room. I just wanted to try something, to see if there was any chance for us to take it out of that stupid room. As far as I am concerned, this is a chance, a darn good one, a better offer than I thought we would be getting, but if you're not comfortable with it…" he is forced to stop talking when the doorbell rings.

"Daniel and Teal'c usually come early," he mutters. It's no doubt for the same reason that Sam always comes late. The team dynamic works out so much better when Jack and Sam are never left alone in a room together. How sad is that?

"Look, Carter, we won't say anything. We'll just have a normal team night, and if you ever decide that you want to move forward with this whole thing, you'll just let me know, okay?" he says as he takes a couple steps forward to answer the door.

"O'Neill, I regret to inform you that Daniel Jackson has brought another documentary," Teal'c says as soon as the door is open.

"I know," Jack says.

"I thought we had agreed that he was not permitted to select team entertainment ever again," Teal'c adds.

"Before we get down to the fascinating show of crazy people who agree with Daniel," Sam says, earning her a glare from the man in the question, "We want to talk to you guys."

"We?" Daniel asks, confused.

"Carter, I believe I've been in the hot seat on this one twice. So, if you have something to say you'd better say it."

She glares at them, and everyone perches on their usual seats in Jack's living room. The nervousness saturates the room as they sit in silence for a few seconds.

"Teal'c, you were there for the xatarc test so you already know this, but we had to admit some feelings."

Daniel blinks in surprise, "You had to tell the Tok'ra how you feel about each other to avoid being put to sleep indefinitely?"

"Pretty much," Jack says flinching at the blunt description.

"Well, that's pretty brutal," Daniel says in sympathy.

"It led to something good, though," Sam says. Her stomach twists with the intensity of what she is about to say, and so she draws her feet up under her and sits on them, "Umm… well, Jack talked to the General." Then she gets an idea of how to get herself out of this whole discussion, "Of course, I wasn't there, so Jack is going to have to tell you about it," she says, turning to him with a wide grin.

"This is what I get for dating a genius," Jack mutters.

"Dating?" Daniel asks in shock.

"Are we?" Jack says, suddenly looking at Sam with a face full of insecurity. She nods her head, and can't help a wide grin from crossing her face.

"Yeah, dating," Jack says with confidence this time. "We need to keep this low-key on base. No-one gets to know but the two of you and the good doc."

"I am pleased that this relationship has commenced," Teal'c says, "I always thought that your countries strange rules against warriors dating has led to a decrease in the genetic superiority of your race."

"Did you just call us wusses?" Jack asks.

"I'm glad too," Daniel says. Suddenly his eyes grow large, "Wait, are we interrupting? You only meant to invite her here today!" He quickly stands up, trying to make a quick exit.

"Daniel, it's okay, we've waited a long time, we can wait one more night before we start this. Our friends are still going to be important to us as we move forward with our relationship."


	3. Night In

_The next day_

Email from Jack to Sam:

I'm emailing this invite so we don't get overheard this time. 7pm, my place.

Email from Sam to Jack:

Your cover is blown. I now know that you know how to use your computer.

Email from Jack to Sam:

You already know it. You're not fooling anyone.

Email from Sam to Jack:

You mean I'm not fooling anyone by pretending that you are fooling me when you are clearly not.

"Do you like Chinese?" Jack asks as soon as the door opens.

"Yes, sir," she says.

"Yeah, we're not doing the whole 'sir' thing on our dates," he commands.

"Fine, but then you don't get to give me orders," she shoots back.

"Right, in a relationship, the girl gives the orders. I've been around the block a couple of times, and I know how this works," he teases. The two of them sit down in the spots that they always sit in when they are on team nights. They are on opposite sides of the room.

They sit in silence.

The doorbell rings, and they both breathe a sigh of relief. The relief is somewhat short-lived. After five minutes, they are sitting at the table eating the Chinese food.

"I thought it would be easier for us to figure out who we were in private," he mutters, by way of apology for the silence.

"You know what we need? A game," Sam says with certainty.

"I think I have a deck of cards," he says carefully, mostly because he isn't all that sure about the cards.

"Have you ever played 'would you rather'?" she asks with a wicked grin.

He shakes his head.

"Okay, so I give you two people or situations, and you decide which one of them you would rather have," she pauses and thinks for a minute, "Would you rather be stuck forever on a deserted planet, or never be able to go through the Stargate again?"

Jack flinches, "Well, having thought that I was stuck on a planet forever I guess I pick never going through the Stargate, but that would really suck."

"That's kind of the point in the game. Usually both of the options suck," Sam says.

A wicked grin covers his face, "You can pick people?"

"Yeah, like who you would want to be with if you had to pick."

"Teal'c or Daniel?" he giggles.

Sam makes a face, "Are you sure you want to go there?"

He nods.

"Teal'c. I love Daniel like a brother, but I think if I had to live in the same house as him, the talking would drive me nuts."

Jack laughs.

"Same question, Jack," Sam returns.

"They're boys, Carter," Jack objects.

"I don't care," she says, leaning back in her chair.

"Okay, then I guess I'd pick Daniel. He's the more feminine of the two, what with the constant needs to talk about feelings."

"I may not be feminine enough for you," she teases.

"I don't actually enjoy talking about my feelings, so I think we'll be fine. Motorcycle or spaceship?"

"Oh, you had to have picked the hardest one ever. Can't I have a spaceship with a motorcycle track?" she pleads.

He shakes his head.

"Fine, spaceship," she says, as if she's just been robbed. "Living with the Nox or the Tollen," she says.

"Nox, they've got the whole nature thing going for them. You?"

"Tollen, their technology is a lot cooler."

"I don't know, the Nox have a giant flying city, that is pretty technology-orientated," he protests. "Antarctica or Egypt?"

"Easy, neither one of us had a great experience in Antarctica, so I take Egypt," she says quickly. He disagrees, but he doesn't want to tell her that even though he nearly died Antarctica wasn't all bad for him. He's not going to say that, though, because he really doesn't want to talk about emotions, and he has done more than enough of that lately. She sees his face though, and reads something on it. "Really, sir? You had three broken bones."

"It's when I started to realize… you," he says.

"You said goodbye to Sara," she says, confused.

"Okay, well, I don't actually remember that, but you handled yourself really well. It made me see you in a whole new way."

"I didn't know you'd had feelings for me that long."

"So when did it start for you?"

"I'm not sure. I think it started before I even noticed, I knew that time that alien orb almost killed you. When I thought about living without you…" she feels awkward at the serious turn in the conversation, "Apophis or Ra?"

"To date or kill?" he asks for clarification.

"To date," she says with a giggle.

"I'm going to have a talk with Jacob about the obvious errors he made in raising you," Jack teases.

Sam's smile fades.

Wrong thing to bring up, Jack scolds himself, she so doesn't want to be thinking about her father right now.

"What is my father going to think of this?" she asks, addressing it directly. That's new, usually Sam is second only to him in ignoring the big things in life.

"All a dad ever wants is for his kids to be happy. I'm sure once you explained it he'd be fine," Jack says, even though he isn't exactly all that sure of it himself.

"I don't know about that. When he first got cancer, I told him I was happy at my job, but he insisted that I try to be an astronaut."

"You can't blame him. He thought you were huddled over a telescope all day. He didn't know you were on the most amazing adventure of your entire life," Jack says.

"I don't know, he should have just accepted what I said. If I said I was happy he should have smiled and given me a high five," she says. She sighs, "And he is defiantly not going to be giving me a high five over this."

"Are you changing your mind?" he asks. It causes cool panic to settle in his stomach. He thought it was agony to be near Carter all the time without doing anything about his feelings, but it is going to be a lot harder now that they have embarked on even the briefest of romance.

She shakes her head, "I'm not changing my mind because of dad. I'm just not going to be super eager to tell him right away."

"Chinese or pizza?" Jack asks.

"Real human food," she says.

"That was not one of the options. Your made-up option assumes that I could cook," he jokes.

"What? Your beer soaked steaks burnt to a crisp is delicious," she says. "Besides, _I_ can cook."

"You've been keeping secrets from me?" he teases.

"Says the man who convinces people he is not smart when he clearly is. Did you ever have your IQ taken?"

"Nope," he says, but his voice quivers.

"Come on, Jack," she coheres.

"Mum is the word," Jack replies.

"Just tell me if it's higher or lower than mine?" she asks.

"Do you really think competition would be wise?" he asks.

"Oh, that means higher; did you beat Daniel, too?" she demands.

"Carter, what makes you even think that I know you guys' IQs?" he asks, narrowing his eyes at her.

She reaches across the table, and takes his hand on impulse. It's sweaty. Somehow she never would have guessed that she had the power to make her commanding officer's pores pour forth. It's a bit of a compliment.

He grins, "Marty or Narim?"

"Narim, at least I knew that whatever he felt for me was actually for me, and not for someone who happened to die inside of my head. Besides, the two people inside of one body kind of freaks me out. It's even weirder when I only have one person inside of my head. Kynthia or Laira?" she shoots back.

"Laira, with the two of us we were honest. We both knew that we were just settling for this, because we couldn't have what we really wanted. Besides, Kynthia seemed like she was very young."

"Well, she was only a month old," Sam says earning her a glare from Jack. "Hammond or Walter?"

"Walter. Have you seen his organization and cleaning skills? I'm telling you I would never have to lift another finger."

"I'd pick Walter, too, but that's just because I know his wife."

Jack's eyebrows rise, "Do I want to know what she said that made you like him?"

"Last Valentine's Day he gave her a 100-clue scavenger hunt that ended in a hot air balloon ride."

"I'm going to have to have a talk with him about setting the bar way too high for the rest of us."


	4. Movie

_Three days later_

Sam can barely contain herself as she plays 'Life' with Cassie and Janet. The second that Cassie goes to the bathroom, Sam leans forward and says, "I'm dating Colonel O'Neill."

"What?" Janet says blinking. Then she thinks a bit more, and says, "What the hell are you thinking?"

"The General knows."

"How?" she says in shock.

"Jack asked him."

Janet blinks, "So the Colonel went to the General and says 'may I please date my second-in-command'?"

"Pretty much," Sam says.

"And the General said yes?"

Sam nods again.

"Well, thank God," Janet says jumping up to give her friend a hug.

"What is this about?" Cassie asks entering the room again.

The two woman turn to her mid-giggle, and freeze.

"Sam is dating," Janet says.

Sam makes a hushing sound.

Janet rolls her eyes. She works for the Stargate program, does her best friend really think she can't lie?

"Yep, it's a long distance thing," Janet says, knowing that she's got to make up some reason why Cassie isn't going to meet Sam's boyfriend.

"Stargate-related," Cassie says.

"Yep," Sam says cheerfully. At least that wasn't a lie.

"You're dating an alien," Cassie grins. "What's he like?"

"It's classified, love," Janet says.

-0-

 _Four Days Later:_

"You do know that this movie is in black and white," Sam warns.

"Yes," he says.

"And there is singing," she continues.

"Correct."

"This is exactly the kind of movie that you have banned from team night," she smirks.

"Yes, and you never used to follow my orders," he says, and there is real worry beneath his eyes. When he first met her, she thought for herself. She defied orders when she needed to, not just when he told her to. If he had told her she wasn't allowed to bring her favorite movie to team night when they first met, he would have gotten a 'screw you' or a challenge to a drinking contest or something. Now, it just gets her to stop bringing the damned movie to movie night.

"I'm pretty sure it's my job to follow your orders, sir," she says playfully, touching his arm at the word 'sir'.

"Not when we're off the clock it's not, and… you should probably stop doing it when you're on the clock as well," he says.

She gets now that he's serious, but she still isn't sure what he's thinking. She wishes she could tell what he was thinking beyond those deeply analytical eyes. She's figured out now, after a week of dating the man, how to get him to spill his guts. She links her fingers with his softly, barely touching.

"I just worry that you're losing yourself in this thing we're doing," he whispers.

"Jack," she protests, like he is completely ridiculous. Really though, he's not. She's lost herself in every single relationship she's ever been in. Ever since her first boyfriend, when she was sixteen, who she scared away by being far too intense. "Okay, so maybe that's a thing I do."

"Carter, when is the last time you slept in your quarters at base?" he asks.

She rolls her eyes. "Ever since we met you have been telling me to get a life, and now I actually have a life, with you none the less, and you're telling me to go back to my workaholic ways. I really can't win with you!" she says, pulling her hand out of it his.

"Sam, are you happy?" he asks, those eyes which miss nothing burrowing into hers.

She shifts, unsure how to answer.

"I just think maybe we need balance. Maybe that's what it will take to make this last," he says, putting his hand on her knee gently.

"Got it - ignore your phone calls, never do as ordered," she teases.

The previews begin, and she lays her head against his shoulder in the way that he's gotten familiar with since they started dating.

"Why do they put these arm rests in?" he complains as he reaches an arm around her to cozy her into a side hug.

"Not everyone comes to the movies just to snuggle someone, sir," she responds.

"I thought we were dropping the 'sir' in our private time," he protests. He hasn't been reminding her of it, figuring it would just take her some time to get used to it. Lately, though, the 'sirs' have picked up in frequency, if anything.

"It's hard, because when we're there, I still have to call you that. I'm sort of scared I'll mess up." He rests his head against hers in almost sympathy, "Besides, you still call me 'Carter'."

"That's different, it's your name," he retorts.

"It's my _last_ name. Who calls their girlfriend by their last name?"

"Samantha?" a voice asks, surprised. Moving down the row in from of them is Walter, and his wife, Maggie.

"Colonel O'Neill," Water says. He doesn't look shocked, so much as sort of bemused.

"I didn't realize that the two of you were together!" Maggie exclaims.

"Well, it's not exactly known on-base. We don't exactly want it to be known on-base," Sam stammers.

"Illicit romance? That can be exciting," Maggie coos.

"The General is aware of their actions," Walter says.

"Nothing goes on at that base that you don't know about, does it?" Jack asks approvingly.

"No, sir," Walter says.

"Well, if it's not a secret, you should have told me, Samantha," then she turns to her husband a light slap on his arm, "Or you should have."

"It _is_ a secret. The General asked up to keep our relationship one the down low," Jack responds somewhat nervously.

"So it does have a little bit of the Romeo and Juliet thing to it," Maggie grins. A piece of popcorn smacks her in the head. Obviously another movie goer is not a huge fan of their talking. She smiles, and she and Walter turn around and take a seat.

"The whole point of that play was that Romeo was a stupid teenager in love with anything with a pulse. Why do people insist on taking him seriously?" Jack whispers so close to Sam's ear that his breath tickles her.

"You were a lit major in college weren't you?" she whispers back. He squeezes her hand.

-0-

"The car is this way," Sam says, lightly tugging on Jack's hand which is clasped tightly in hers. It's amazing that a man who can find his way around the entire galaxy has no sense of direction as soon as he's put on city streets.

"Let's go for a little walk, eh?" he says.

She nods, now using the connection between them to pull him closer to her. Close enough he can smell that glorious shampoo that she uses whenever she showers at home. It used to be rare for her to smell like that, now it's a guarantee for every date.

"You should take that shampoo to work," his tongue says before his brain can stop it.

She giggles, "I did when I first joined SG-1. Daniel kept using it."

"That's a bit disturbing. In the case, leave it at home," he says.

"He likes tangerine," Sam says with a shrug.

"If you're going to go around and name the smell, you're going to become less mysterious," he warns. She gives him that grin that she reserves just for him, just for his bad jokes that no one thinks are funny.

He leans forward, and delivers their first kiss, more chaste than passionate.

Then he thinks of the time loop, and dips her.

She screams, but kisses him back. When he sets her right she smacks his shoulder, "Next time you do that, make sure it's not over concrete."

-0-

 _One week later:_

There are little things that remind her how old he is. One of them is walking her to the door. It always makes him feel like he is a man of a different generation.

"Do you want to come in?" she asks turning the key with a shaking hand.

He takes her hand, and gives her a questioning look.

"I'm nervous," she says.

"How about we wait until you're not so nervous, before I come in?" he asks confused as to why she would want him to come in before he was really ready for it.

"It's been weeks," she says.

"Oh, Samantha, there is no timeline on this sort of things," he says running a hand through her short hair.

"You want to come in, and just have a beer, and talk, and…" she doesn't finish that sentence.

He checks her hand for shaking, and only when he is able to assure himself that it is not he kisses her.


	5. Jacob

"Sam, is that you?" Jack asks in his oxygen deprived state.

Jacob cocks his head at the way he's referring to his daughter by the first name.

"Jacob, is that you?" Jack asks, and Jacob doesn't miss the touch of fear in that man's voice as he says it. He's out of it, but still he knows that he messed up with the name.

-0-

Jack is breathing hard on the floor of the spaceship. He doesn't know whether it is mere panic or a more physical emotion that is causing the breath to come out of his mouth. He wants to hold her hand so badly. When you almost die, you should get to hold your girlfriend's hand, right? He can't though, because they are off-world. Off-world, she is his second-in-command. You don't get hold the hand of your second-in-command.

She gives him a smile though, which is almost as good as a hand hold.

That's breaking the rules, probably. The General had warned them not to let so much as an eye glance give them away while working. It's risky to, with her father right there. He shouldn't like that she smiles at him like that, but he does. He really does.

-0-

"Dad, what's wrong?" Sam asks her father later that night. Since his Tok'ra mission was completely was completely ruined, he came home with his daughter for a couple of days. They have now eaten an entire meal during which he has said only a couple of words. For a long time, she babbled eagerly, trying to stave away the silence. In the end, she decides to be honest.

"Nothing," he says, giving her a smile which almost breaks her heart when his eyes met hers.

She gives him back the 'you've got to kidding me' look that she first learned from him.

"Are you sleeping with him, Sam?" he asks.

"Who?" she asks, trying to play innocent, but with a distinct deer-in-the-headlights look.

"Your commanding officer," Jacob says sternly.

"No," Sam says, feeling super relieved that she and Jack hadn't done that quite yet. Not that they hadn't done plenty of other things

"But you have feelings for him," Jacob says, his eyes softening a little.

"Dad, it's not what you think."

Jacob sits back in his chair, examining his daughter closely. She's not the same woman she was before she came to Stargate command. She's stronger, she's better, and Jacob knows he owes some of this to Jack. It's not fair that the man is going to destroy his daughter's life now, after having helped her so much.

"What is it then?" she asks.

"Hammond gave us an okay."

Jacob blinks in surprise. If he was given a million guesses he never would have landed on that one, "George said it was okay for you to date you commanding officer?"

She nods.

"When… when did this come up? He just threw it in at the end of a meeting?"

"Jack asked him," Sam says with a slight quiver of her bottom lip. She's terrified, and he both loves and hates that he has the power to do that to his daughter.

"So, your commanding officer went to the General to ask permission to break the frat rules? What the hell is wrong with George for saying yes?"

"Well, they both felt that all of SG-1 breaks frat rules on a regular basis. We are a team that does anything for each other. It's not just Jack and I. It's not because of the romantic feelings that we have for each other. It's just because we are SG-1."

"That doesn't mean that you should date him, Sam. Maybe he's right about the frat rules, but Jack is still your boss. Do you really think that it is wise to date your boss? It's hard enough to be a woman in the Air Force. I know how hard that was for you. How many phone calls did we share when you were first starting out? You were angry, you were devastated, and you had a right to be. They were assholes to you. Do you think they are going to be any less of a jerk to you when you are _with_ your commanding officer?"

"I think they're going to gossip about me no matter what I do, and I think that he is worth it," Sam insists with the strength back in her voice.

"Worth it? He's another black-ops officer. He's exactly the type of guy you always go for, just a half-step less than crazy."

"Don't say that, don't you dare say anything against Jack," Sam says, standing up from the table in fury.

Jacob raises his eyebrows. Oh, this complicated things, complicated things a lot, "You love him."

She nods.

"I assume he feels the same?" Jacob asks.

Sam blushes looking down, "I don't know. He told me at the beginning that I was going to have say 'I love you' before he did, and I haven't said it yet." At another eyebrow raise, Sam giggles, "In the very beginning of our relationship I made him talk about his feelings first, so it's only fair."

"You got _Jac_ k to talk about his _feelings?"_ Jacob asks.

Sam nods.

"Then he definitely loves you. This thing is serious; you'd better call him to come over."

"What?" Sam asks, her jaw dropping.

"I'm only going to be on Earth for a couple of days, the least you could do was let me met your pretty serious boyfriend."

"You've met him, he's Jack," she says slowly, as if her father has just endured some sort of a head injury that makes him incapable of understanding even the most basic of things.

"I've met him as a person yes, I haven't met him as my daughter's boyfriend, though. Call him up," Jacob says.

"You'll be nice?" she asks, narrowing her eyes at him. The only response he gives her is a huge fake innocent look that she is pretty sure means, 'probably not'. She doesn't really see another way around it, though, so she sighs, and gets up to get the phone.

"Jack, Dad wants you to come over. He knows we're dating."

She is greeted with a long confused pause on the other end of the phone, "Should I be bringing a zat, Sam?"

"I don't think so," she says warily.

"That is not the vote of confidence that I was looking for," Jack whines.

"Sir," she says in that patented insubordinate way she has. For about the first week of their relationship, he had tried to get her out of the habit of calling him sir. It just felt kinky, strange, and disrespectful to hear that out of the mouth of your girlfriend. It was a habit she was unable to break herself of, and it was probably for the best since she still had to call him that when they were at work. He'd learned to deal with it, because while Samantha Carter might _call_ him 'sir', she felt not an ounce of the kinky subordinate things that implied when used in a romantic relationship.

"I'll be right over," he says. Well, he didn't have a bullet proof vest on hand, but maybe he could put on another sweater. A little extra padding couldn't hurt, right?

-0-

When Sam was a teenager, Jacob had been one of those fathers who required her to bring home all her boyfriends before she could date them. They'd all come in, and act this exact way: this respectful, sycophantic, 'anything-you-say-sir' kind of attitude. The only difference was that those pimply-faced teenagers had been faking, and he could tell that Jack O'Neill was on the level.

Damn that man for being so hard to hate.

When they finish dinner, Sam goes off to do the dishes, and Jack follows her with a handful of dishes. Jacob debates giving them a minute alone, but decides on being helpful instead. He takes the few things left off the dining room table and follows them.

Sam is standing at the sink with suds up to her elbows, and Jack is standing right behind her - her back flush against his front. They are both washing dishes, Jack with a huge dish on top of the plate she is trying to wash. He's very much her way, and she's objecting - in quiet whispered giggles that she doesn't want obeyed. He nuzzles his head into her neck, and gives her a slight kiss, and she lets out this happy sigh.

Holy Hannah, he'd forgotten that Sam made that noise. The last time he'd heard that was a few months before Debra had died. He'd snuck her in and let her ride shotgun in a Thunderbolt.

"You guys are happy," he says.

The two adults jump apart like guilty teenagers, spraying bubbles across the room. Sam stares at her father in horror, "Sorry."

Jacob rolls his eyes, "No, I didn't mean to startle you. I just didn't realize this whole thing was good… you're happy." He doesn't finish his statement, because his daughter's cheeks have already gone bright red. If he did finish it, he would have said that she was happy in a way the Air Force couldn't make her, or science, or even that magical little Stargate. It was a miracle that his little girl had finally found something other than work that made her feel anything - and it was a guy.

Jack shoots Sam an "I told you so" look. On their first date, he'd predicted that Jacob would be okay with all of this if only he realized how happy she was.

"I'll finish the dishes, Carter, you go talk to your dad," Jack says.

It doesn't escape Jacob's notice that even though Jack has irreverently called him 'dad' almost since their first meeting, he doesn't do it now. So maybe some of the respect from earlier was faked.

Sam grabs and towel and wipes down few bubbles that remain unpopped before heading into the living room with her dad. Jacob doesn't miss the fact that Jack is being left to his own devices to put utensils and pans back where they belong.

"How long have the two of you been together?" he asks lightly.

"A little over a month," she says.

A month isn't long enough for him to know her kitchen unless it's been one of those relationships where you break all the rules of days to wait between dates, and just dive into the deep end with abandon.

Then again, how else are you going to date your commanding officer?

"Sam, what if this affects your career?" he feels like a jerk for asking. She's happy now, and she's had her happiness shattered enough that he should leave it be. This is just like when he kept nagging her about the fact that Jonas was a jerk. If he'd just left it she could have been happy with the guy for months longer than she was. Not that it would have changed the outcome.

"Not that I'm a big fan of the plan, but if worse comes to worst, George and Jack have agreed he'll move to SG-2, or retire if it's that bad. I don't think it will be though," she says, biting her bottom lip in a way that belies her last statement.

"Oh, Samantha, you can never keep things neat and simple can you? No, you can't just be an astronaut, you have to work for a top secret program, and go to other planets through a Stargate. You can't just find a nice normal guy. No, you have to fall in love with your commanding officer," he teases.

"You know, my daddy once told me that nothing good comes easy," she responds.

"Wise man, your father," Jacob says with a grin.

Jack returns to the living room, with a bubble still clinging to the edge of his eyebrow. He sits down next to Sam on the couch, not quite close enough to touch, but as close as you could get without actually touching. Sam leans back against him, her muscles relaxing as soon as they come into contact with him.

"I assume, Jack, that we can skip the 'you hurt her, you die' speech?" Jacob asks.

"It's implied."


	6. Cassie

_A month and a half later_

Cassie is giggling at Dominic's impression of his English teacher when a familiar figure catches her eye. It's Jack O'Neill, and he's coming out of a jewelry shop.

"Jack!" she calls.

He freezes and turns to her with an expression which can only be described as completely horrified. That's a surprise to her. Jack is _always_ glad to see her.

"Hey Cassie!" he exclaims with artificial brightness. She is honestly not a huge fan of the fakeness. If he's not happy to see her right now, she'd rather he was just honest about it.

"What are you doing in there?" she asks, leaving the seat outside of the frozen yogurt place to cross the few steps over to where Jack stands, awkwardly shifting back and forth on his feet. Jack doesn't have any family close enough to give jewelry too. She's probably the closest he has to family. She ponders for a minute; maybe that's why he's acting all squirrely… but it's not close to her birthday, and Jack O'Neill isn't the sort of guy who just randomly gives big gifts.

He's much more of the 'show you how much he cares by doing things with you' type. Much better, in her opinion.

"I was just looking around," he says nervously.

She raises one eye brow (Teal'c taught her), and glances at the bag in his hand.

Jack deflates, and abandons whatever charade he had going on, and says, "Fine! I was buying an engagement ring!"

"What?! I didn't even know you were dating anyone! How long have you been dating her? What is she like? Does my mom know about this? Does Sam know about this? What is her name? How did you meet her? When can I meet her? How are you going to propose?"

While the questions are coming fast and furious, Jack figures he's safe. There isn't actually time to answer between the questions. Then the pause, and the silence fills the air, and he figures he's got to give her some kind of an answer, some kind of a response. "It's classified," he says stone-faced (he learned that from Teal'c).

"So you're dating an…" Cassie leans forward and whispers, "… alien, too?"

"Too? Who else is?" Jack asks, deciding its best neither to confirm or deny her suspicion.

"Sam," Cassie says with a roll of her eyes. She figures there is no way that Jack could _really_ be ignorant of that little fact, and figures he must have just been pretending in case she was fishing for information.

Jack chuckles a little at that, and Cassie doesn't even attempt to understand. She knows that SG-1 has so many inside jokes that you would need a diagram to get through the average conversation with them. "I wouldn't think you would have a problem with aliens dating, little missy," he says after a quick check assures him that no-one is within earshot.

"I just don't like you dating people that I can't meet," she pouts. He sees something else in her face, and realizes that she just doesn't like Sam and him dating people that aren't each other. That realization makes him take a little pity on her.

"I think you'll like her," he says.

"When can we find out for sure?" she asks cheerfully.

Jack seriously debates telling her. After all, the General said he had to keep it quiet until there was a ring involved, and technically there was a ring involved. It was right there in the shopping bag. The only thing that keeps him from telling her is the fact that he's having a bit too much fun with torturing Cassie.

"I don't know. If she says yes, I suppose I'll invite you to the wedding."

"Jack," Cassie whines, "Come on! Tell me something about her!"

"She's without question one of the smartest people on the planet," Jack says.

"Wait, this planet?" Cassie asks.

Jack doesn't say a word, but his face clearly says 'oops'.

"Is this girl smarter than Sam?" Cassie asks. She can't actually imagine someone smarter than Sam.

"I would say about equal in intelligence," Jack says, holding the laugh inside his cheeks.

Cassie looks at him critically. If she didn't know that Sam was dating an alien, she would think that Jack was dating Sam. Then again, Jack claimed to be dating an alien.

"Blond hair, blue eyes, leggy?" Cassie asks.

Jack is far too focused on keeping a laugh inside his mouth to answer.

"Oh my God, you are going to marry Sam!" Cassie exclaims, so loud that anyone else who happens to be in the parking lot turns to stare.

"I said nothing," Jack says, raising both of his eyebrows high.

Cassie jumps into his arms to give him a hug that just doesn't end. He swings her back and forth.

"I can't believe you kept it quiet this long! Seriously! How long have you been together?" Cassie demands.

"We've only been dating for two months, so this whole thing might be a bit premature. I would really appreciate it if you didn't mention it to her. With our jobs, we're not supposed to date. We sort of got special permission, but we're not supposed to say anything until we're married."

"Oh, come on, Jack, it's me. You can tell me."

"You were not on the list of people that I am allowed to tell," Jack says.

"Wait, there is a list? In other words there are people who knew about his before me?" Cassie says in shock and dismay. "Wait, my mother? Did my mother know about this?"

Jack doesn't say a word, but she can tell by his face! "Oh, that little twerp!"

"Be respectful!" Jack scolds.

"I did not use the word that I wanted to use," Cassie says.

Jack looks over at the table where her boyfriend is waiting, and her frozen yogurt is melting. "You should probably get back to your date. I'll see you tomorrow for our hike," Jack says, referring to an outing they already had planned.

"Are you going to have more news by then? When were you planning on asking her?" Cassie asks with excited eyes shining.

"I am definitely not going to be asking tonight. I don't actually have a plan quite yet; like I said, this is pretty early. Maybe crazy early," he says, fidgeting. He is beginning to wish that he never got caught, maybe that he never bought the stupid ring.

"She's going to say 'yes'," Cassie says, as if it were perfectly obvious, "She would say yes if you asked her even before you guys ever stared dating."

Cassie's voice is so sure that Jack can't doubt anymore. "Thanks," he whispers, giving her another eager hug. Then he gives Dominic a quick nod of his head, before getting into his car, and beginning a more serious plan on how to get his girlfriend to agree to marry him.

-0-

Sam comes home from work, utterly exhausted, to see a note stuck to her door. She opens it to find the first clue to a treasure hunt. She is tempted to leave the hunt off until the next day, but surprisingly she doesn't feel as exhausted as she did a few minutes ago. He has an almost supernatural power over her, she realizes.

-0-

Two hours later after traipsing around all of Colorado Springs (including interrupting Teal'c's kel'no'reem to get a note out of the middle of a candle, yes they had to wait for it to burn down, and interrupting Daniel's dinner so she could rummage through his freezer. Thank God General Hammond never gave Jack a key), Sam finally arrives at the end of the treasure hunt.

She expects there to be a grand gesture at the end of it, but there is just Jack and a wide grin.

"You must think pretty highly of yourself. You're the prize?" she teases.

"No, the prize is in my pocket," he teases.

She glares at him.

"No," he says, flustered by the misunderstanding, "I'm not asking you to reach into my pants pocket."

"Good, not that that wouldn't be a pretty good prize," she teases, moving forward to kiss him. She is stopped by his outstretched hand which comes into contact with her stomach. "I'm sorry," he mutters, embarrassed.

She glances down completely shocked at the small velvet box. "Jack," she says.

"Please don't let this ruin everything if it's way too soon," he pleads, looking terrified.

"You want to marry me?" she asks, surprised, and a little confused by his words. Why is he already assuming that she is going to say no? Or is he hoping that she is going to say no?

"I do," he says.

"You're not supposed to say that quite yet," she teases, giving herself a little time to get her thumping heart under control. "I say 'yes', but how is this going to work? No-one is supposed to know about us. I think they just might notice if we get married."

"Don't be mad but…" he says the first words already earning a glare from her, "I left something out of the first conversation I had with General Hammond. He mentioned that if we wanted to get married, we could go public at the base."

"You're kidding," Sam says with a face that is clearly delighted. Then it falls, "You're not marrying me _just_ so we don't have to hide it anymore?"

"You are grossly overestimating how much I care about keeping it a secret," he says.

She shakes the still unopened box, "Why?" she asks.

"Are you seriously asking me to make another emotional declaration? You know how strongly I feel I feel about you, Sammy…." He is actually going to continue talking, but she interrupts.

"I love you, Jack. I trust you in a way I'm not used to trusting people. I'm sure about this, and ready to start our life together."

He grins wider than she's ever seen him grin before. "Look at that, I can make you say emotional things just as much as you can make me," she teases.

She knocks his shoulder playfully with her own.

"I love you, too," he says, "Open up the box," he says, bouncing on his feet.

She flips it open, and he wraps an arm around the small of her back. The ring has a circle of small diamonds around a large blue sapphire. It looks vaguely like a Stargate. "Kwoosh," she whispers.

"Good?" he asks insecurely.

"Very good," she says, kissing his cheek and wrapping her arm around him.

"I feel like we should celebrate, but I'm also tired."

"How late did you work? I sat in this freaking park for four hours!" he exclaims.

She giggles. "Why didn't you call me and tell me to go home?" she asks.

"I didn't want to ruin the surprise," he pouts.

"Poor baby," she says, moving to get him a more traditional hug. "Let's go home."


	7. Vows

_Three days later_

"Well, Carter, it looks like we are stuck here for a couple of weeks," Jack says as the two of them sit on the edge of the sea. They are at about as far as they can get from the palace which contains… some sciencey thing that they are addicted to. He doesn't really remember.

She nods, but doesn't say a word.

He lightly touches her hand. She feels like she should pull away, but she can't quite make herself do it.

"We've got time to talk," he says.

"About?" she asks, longing to be in his arms. Weeks? She can't hug him for weeks. Her hand that isn't touching his reaches up to touch her engagement ring which is hanging next to her dog tags.

"What our life together is going to look like," he says.

She can't help but let a grin cover her face. His heart swarms, because she is grinning at the mere idea of spending her life with him.

"So, your place, mine, or a new one?" he asks.

"You fit so well in your house," she responds.

"Do you feel like you fit?"

She shrugs, "I don't want you to give up your house. I can't imagine you living somewhere else."

"We are not going to live somewhere that you don't feel like you belong. New place or yours?" he presses.

"We can look, but if we don't find someplace where the backyard feels like a forest. I think if you don't have a backyard like that, you're not going to be happy."

"Sweetie," he tries to suck the word back into his mouth as he sees her reaction, "Sam," he begins again, all the while swearing to himself he is going to find some term of endearment that she will be willing to endure, "I'm going to be happy anywhere you are."

She makes a patronizing face, "Jack, don't be sweet. We have to be practical if we want this thing between us to last, to last and be good."

"You want kids?" he asks with a blank face and examining eyes.

She thinks to herself that after she answers this question first they are going to be even with the whole 'say it first' thing. "I like kids, I really do. I just think that it will be a long time to be away from the gate, and the idea of dropping a kid off in day care and heading off to another planet boggles my mind."

"It's even more complicated if both of us are going through the gate," he agrees gravely.

She nods, "I do want kids, but not now, and… I worry that by the time I get around to being ready, it will be too late."

"If it is, there is always adoption," he points out.

She grins, relieved. Then her face goes a bit more serious, "How do you feel about it? I mean, considering Charlie," she asks softly.

Jack stares out at the sea long enough that Sam is pretty sure she never should have asked. She's about to apologize, but he answers, "After Charlie died and Sara left me, I thought I was never going to put my heart out there again. Then came Daniel, and he forced me to be his friend."

She smiles.

He glances at her shooting a smile, "And there is Teal'c, and Cassie, and…then I fell in love with you my heart is open for whoever is coming in. I'm willing to wait until you're ready for kids, and when that time comes, I'd be more than willing to retire, if you think two people going through the gate is too much."

"As a person who lost one parent, I can attest that it still sucks," Sam says.

"Right, but you lost her in a car accident, Carter, being stateside doesn't make us safe," he says softly.

She nods, and rests her head on his shoulder. It's amazing to him how such a simple action can make him feel so close to her.

"Samantha, should I get a motorcycle or ride on the back of yours?" he asks with way more graveness than the subject deserves.

She chuckles, "You definitely need to ride mine," she says, "All sorts of interesting body contact." She regrets it as soon as she said it, because now she is just longing for that kind of contact. "Jack, I want a small wedding."

"Mmm," he hums his agreement, "Family and friends in our new backyard?"

"Sounds lovely, however," she pauses, "If I could bring my brother and his family off world this spot would be pretty nice."

"It is lovely, isn't it?" he says comfortably.

"Jack, the General called in!" Daniel calls from the palace. Jack and Sam both stand up, and then head toward the palace. Jack continues in, but Sam stops by Daniel.

"Sorry to interrupt," Daniel says a little bashfully.

"That's okay, we were just planning the wedding," Sam says cavalierly.

"The what?" Daniel says, with eyes bulging.

She pulls her dog tags off where the ring is, "Wedding," she repeats with a grin.

"You guys got engaged," Daniel says pulling her into a hug. "Hey, Teal'c, Sam and Jack are engaged!" he shouts over his shoulder.

"When will your nuptials be commencing?" Teal'c asks.

"We didn't really get to that part of the conversation," Sam admits.

"I would be happy to officiate your wedding," Teal'c says solemnly.

"That's sweet Teal'c, but on Earth you have to be a justice of the peace or a minister or something in order to get to marry people," Daniel says.

"I acquired the appropriate paperwork to be a minister of one of your lesser known religious orders online," Teal'c replies.

"Wait, are you telling me that you got ordained?" Daniel says in shock.

"Indeed," Teal'c replies.

"Why exactly?" Daniel asks.

"The people of your world spend an inordinate amount of their lives in slumber," Teal'c complains.

"So you're saying that you go bored, and decided to become a minister?" Daniel asks in disbelief.

Teal'c nods his head, causing Sam to laugh.

"I would be honored to have you marry us, Teal'c. We would probably be the only people in the whole planet that could say they were married by an alien," Sam says touching his huge arm.

Just then Jack returns from his check in with the General. "Teal'c is going to marry us?" he says.

Sam nods.

Jack tilts his head, and gets a wicked look on his face. "Let's get married, right here, right now."

"We can't, Jack. My family isn't here, and you probably have people that you want to invite, not to mention we have friends from the SGC."

"Our two most important friends from the SGC are right here, Sam. We could do a reception when we get back. Invite all the other people that are important to us to have a party. Right here, and right now, we could just have the most important people in our lives here for the actual ceremony."

Sam grins, "Okay, I love this idea, but we're going to have to get a marriage license, and make sure that off-world marriages are even legal."

"Umm… as a person who has had an off-world marriage I can attest to the fact that it is legal," Daniel says.

"Right, but you never lived with Sha're on Earth, and Jack's marriage to Kynthia wasn't legal," Sam points out.

"I had to get that annulled," Jack says, somewhat surprised that Sam didn't already know that.

"I will contact the General to obtain the necessary paperwork," Teal'c says walking off.

Daniel looks at his friends with a gleeful expression on his face for several seconds before he jumps forward, hugging both of them close to him.

-0-

 _Two Days later_

Sam never exactly pictured herself getting married in BDUs, but somehow it seems fitting since she is marrying Jack. She fell in love with him in this exact outfit, so why shouldn't she marry him in it?

Teal'c may have been ordained by Earth, but the wedding is definitely Jaffa in origin. Teal'c instructs the two of them to link their hands together and touch foreheads. They stand there in silent meditation for a whole five minutes. Then the words begin.

"Do you promise to protect each other as long as you both draw breath?"

"Indeed," Jack and Sam chorus together.

"Do you promise to draw closer to each other whether your paths go through smooth ground or rough?" Teal'c continues.

"Indeed," the forehead touchers chorus.

"Does love beat within your breasts?" he asks.

"Indeed," they say, and then at Teal'c's gesture they each move a hand to the other one's heart. Jack wills himself not to be distracted by Sam's chest rising and falling with nervous breath under his hand.

"Do you enter into this agreement with free minds and open hearts?" Teal'c asks.

One more "indeed" is drawn from the two, and then Teal'c says, "By the power vested in me by the government of the state of Colorado on the planet of the Tau'ri, I now pronounce you husband and wife."

The two pull apart, and wait for the next words. When they are not forthcoming from Teal'c, Jack prompts, "You're supposed to tell me that I can kiss her now."

"She is your wife. You do not require my permission to show physical affection toward her. I do not wish to be that involved in your relationship."

Jack shrugs, and gives Sam one heck of a kiss.

"The General sent a gift for the two of you through with the wedding certificate," Daniel says walking forward holding a bottle of Champaign.

Jack turns the note so he can read it, and then he passes it to Sam for inspection. "Did the General just give us permission to… off world?"

Sam turns a bright shade of red as soon as she had read the note, "Enjoy your honeymoon in the pleasure palace."

"I think so," she says, hiding her face in her brand new husband's shoulder in humiliation.

"Are not married couples allowed to mai'tac on your world without seeking permission of their leaders?" Teal'c asks to Daniel.

"Usually, but people don't normally do, ah…" Daniel coughs, "That when they are working, so this is like a special thing."

"Your world is very strange," Teal'c says.

"So is yours," Daniel reminds him, not for the first time.

"So, Mrs. O'Neill, would you like to have a glass of bubbly with our friends here?" Jack asks.

"Not happening, I'm going to keep my name," Sam objects.

"That doesn't mean that I am not going to call you Mrs. O'Neill," Jack says with a grin.

"I would try to stop you, but I know that is going to be a losing battle, so go ahead," Sam says cheerfully, practically skipping back to the castle.


	8. Party

_One Month Later_

Sam moves ever so slightly in her sleep, closer to him. She is such a snuggler, and even more so when she is asleep. The fact that she has spent almost every night on her own is amazing to him, the way that she seems to need physical contact. Of course the fact that she has been alone for so long might explain why she needs so much touch; she's behind.

He wipes the hair away from her forehead, and she lets out a slight moan. "Mrs. O'Neill, you'd better get up, it's our wedding day."

"Wedding reception, and the name is still Carter," she says, pulling the blankets over her head.

He giggles, "You know, for all the times that I had to drag you out of the SGC and force you to sleep, I never would have figured that you were so hard to wake up in the morning."

"I don't like to go to bed, because when I do I have to wake up," Sam explains from underneath the covers.

Jack nuzzles his way underneath the blanket, and kisses her neck in a way he's figured out tickles her. She jumps out of bed in order to flee him.

"You are evil," she mumbles.

"Whatever, Carter, you'd be furious if I let you be late for your own wedding," he says.

"It's a reception," she reminds him.

"Potato, patahto," he retorts.

"Nope, it's a big difference. If it was a wedding, I would be all nervous, and required to do some sort of public speaking. Since it is a reception, it's just a party with our friends, and I have nothing to be nervous about," she says, even though her hand shakes a little.

He shakes his head, "I'm still amazing at how someone as amazing as you has a fear of public speaking. You're fine at briefings."

"Right, briefings, where I am talking about science to a few of my closest friends. That is a little bit different than talking about feelings to a room full of family and friends, most of whom I only see a few times a year. Now I am going to go take a shower," she says.

"I could join you," he offers cheerfully.

"Don't you even think about it! There is no way that we are going to be late for our own wedding reception," she retorts as she heads into the bathroom.

"Women," he mutters, making sure that it is quiet enough that his wife is not going to overhear him.

-0-

"Now, my daughter said that no-one is allowed to make any speeches," Jacob's voice rises above the noise of the outdoor barbeque, and silences all the guests, "But I'm hoping that she was just trying to avoid saying something herself." Those who know Sam well enough to know about her phobia of public speaking giggle. "I couldn't let her wedding go by without saying something. So here it goes. Sammy is a truly amazing human being. She is good at pretty much everything she ever attempts. She is an amazing scientist, soldier, daughter, friend, and sister. I know that she is going to be just as amazing as a wife, and if she chooses, a mother. I am so proud of you, baby girl."

A "hear, hear" starts with Daniel and moves around the room like wildfire.

"I would also like to say something," Cassie says, standing up on a chair. She may not be as short as her mother, but she acts like she is. "I am so glad that Sam and Jack have gotten together. I am so lucky that when I moved to Colorado I didn't just get a mother," she says smiling at her mom, "But an aunt and three uncles. SG-1 has always been my family, and I am so excited that two of them have gotten married."

General Hammond clears his throat, and although no-one quite stands at attention there is a feeling of that in the room. "Rarely have I had the good fortune to work with officers of the quality of these two. I am sure it is no surprise to anyone in this room that I have taken no small amount of crap from those above me for allowing, and even condoning, them to begin a relationship. Let me assure you that it is worth it. People who do what you do, people who protect our nation, they deserve whatever happiness they can get out of life. I think you've found it, so enjoy it, kids."

Next, Jack's mother stands up. She looks almost as nervous before the crowd which is to her almost all strangers as Sam does when she is in front of a camera. "From my perspective, this all happened pretty fast. It was about a month ago that Jack first mentioned Samantha during a phone call. My son isn't particularly chatty," the room laughs at that understatement, "And I didn't actually have the pleasure of meeting my daughter-in-law until the day before yesterday. So, I don't exactly have a lot of nice things to say about her. I'm sure I will as time goes on," she says flashing a smile at the younger woman, "My son, though. I could talk about the wonderful things about him all day long. Unfortunately he informed me that he has classified his childhood," she says, earning another laugh from the crowd, "While I didn't exactly believe that he had the authority to do that, he did yield some pretty realistic threats of all the things he would do if I let slip any stories about him. Namely, he threatened to have dogs instead of children. I will just say that he's one of the good ones. He deserves another chance, and I am so grateful to you, Samantha, for giving it to him."

Jack's father nods his head in a way that lets everyone know he is claiming his wife's speech as his own. Daniel stands up next and says, "I have watched the two of you work together for years. You were always professional, even though I know the feelings that the two of you have are not exactly new. I am so glad that you guys don't have to pretend not to feel what you feel anymore. I am so glad that you guys get to be as happy in your homes as you are on the job. I would probably tell you more about the two of them, unfortunately, most of what I know about these two is actually classified," he says earning a laugh as he gives a nod to let everyone know that he is done.

Mark stands next and says simply, "Congratulations, sis."

The eyes fall to Teal'c, who seems to be the only other person with a level of importance that makes it critical for him to say something. He looks around the room and says, "Samantha Carter and O'Neill are both warriors of great renown. It was my pleasure to be the one responsible for uniting them in marriage. If they are still seeking permission to display their affection for each other they have it," the slight smirk on the side of his mouth clearly shows that someone, probably Daniel, has explained the tradition of 'you may now kiss the bride' to him since the wedding.

Everyone clinks their silverware against the glasses, and Sam and Jack stand up to kiss. He dips her, and she's kissed him enough now not to be surprised by it.

"Now, for the cake!" Jack exclaims, as soon as his lips have been separated from his new wife's.

-0-

"Mrs. O'Neill, it is completely safe to tell me stories about Jack's childhood. I'm the hold out on the kid issue," Sam says, sitting next to her new mother-in-law.

"Honey, you can either call me Mom or Laura, and I don't really have that many interesting stories from when Jack was young. He was just a good well behaved kid. When he got into trouble, it was never his own idea."

"You're kidding, right?" she asks laughing.

"No, he really was a rather boring child," Laura replies.

"Apparently he saved up all of his tricks for adulthood," Sam says with a grin.

"Are you two talking about me?" Jack says suspiciously, sitting down next to his wife.

"Could be," she says with a grin.

"Don't believe anything she says, Mom," Jack demands.

"But I'm allowed to believe what she says? I _do_ have all the really good stories," Sam says with a giggle. "Our friend Murray likes to meditate, with all kinds of candles. One time Jack snuck into his room, and replaced all of his candles with that trick kind that won't blow out. Murray thought he had contracted some sort of illness and become all weak. He pouted for _days,"_ Sam says with laughter.

"Sam, would you like to dance with me?" Jack asks.

"In a minute," she says, waving her new husband away with her hand, "Another time when Cassie was out with her friends he glued her desk and everything on it to the ceiling. When she came back home she thought gravity had stopped working."

"Samantha," Jack says, standing up and tugging at her arm a bit more deliberately.

"Then there was the time that he unscrewed every light bulb in my house, and I thought the electricity went out. Only, that didn't make any sense, because everything else in the house was still working."

"Mom, would you like to dance?" Jack asks, extending his hand to her.

"I would," she says standing. She pats Samantha on the shoulder and says, "Don't worry. You'll have plenty more time to tell me about all the naughty things that my son did. We're also going to have a chat about why you don't want to give me grandbabies."

Sam smiles as her mother-in-law is whisked away. She decides that she is going to slip a 'mom' into the conversation as soon as she can. It's been a long time since she had a mother. She actually can't believe that Jack had family that she didn't know about until after they were engaged. He is such a private man.

She hopes that his desire to keep his family life and his life with her apart is only a jest. Sometimes it's hard to tell what things he is serious about what he isn't.

"May I have this dance?" Jacob asks, tapping her gently on the shoulder.

"Of course, daddy," she agrees, standing up.

"'Daddy', it's been a while since I heard that one," he says. He remembers the last time that passed her lips. She was four years old, and had a knee full of blood. The whole sentence had been, "Why did you let go of the bike, Daddy?"

He knows that he shouldn't have been teaching a four-year-old to ride bike, but she was a speed demon on that trike, and fearless. Fearless at least until she hit the concrete. In those first seconds when he held the shaking toddler he'd worried that he'd broken her, taken away her spunk forever. Then she'd gotten back on the bike and said, "Just hold on until my feet start to move, the problem was last time I stopped pedaling. You have to keep moving."

"I'm so happy for you, baby girl," he says as he spins her on the dance floor.

She smiles, a peaceful smile. Peaceful, wasn't that a funny word to use for a warrior? But not really, he mused, because you can't really understand peace until you have seen war.

"I'm really happy," she says.

Jack taps Jacob on the shoulder, "Now will you dance with me?" he asks.

"You refused to dance with him already?" Jacob asks in mock shock, "Oh, Jack, have you got your work cut out for you with this one!"

"I think if I let her lead, I'll be all right," he says with a smirk.

"Are you talking about on the dance floor or in life?" Jacob asks.

"Both," Jack responds.

"You'll do just fine," Jacob says, patting the man on the back.


	9. Kidnapped

_Five Months Later after Desperate Measures_

Janet had wanted to keep Sam in the infirmary overnight. Her blood work was still clouded with countless chemicals. But Sam's reaction to the infirmary beds, and needles, and clean antipestic environment was something that made Janet believe she'd be a lot safer in her own home.

"You bring her back here if there are any problems," Janet says.

Jack doesn't miss the crinkle between her forehead, "Should I stay up all night and monitor her?"

"No," Janet says with a sigh, "But if you happen to wake up once or twice in the middle of the night, I wouldn't object to you recording her vital signs."

"She's going to be okay, isn't she?" Jack asks, looking past the short doctor to his wife who is choosing to sit on one of the chairs for guests (which he knows from way too much experience to be _very_ uncomfortable) instead of the infirmary bed.

"The last of the drugs should be out of her system in 48 hours," the doctor replies.

"That's not what I'm talking about," Jack says.

Janet nods, she should have known that even though Jack never talked about emotions he still thought about them, and he always made sure that his teammates where fine emotionally when something went wrong. How much more careful was he going to be about all of that when it was his wife?

"She's been through worse, sir," Janet reminds him.

Yes, he thinks, but she wasn't my wife then. I've never had to watch her suffer like this when she was my wife.

"I hate sending you home with that bullet wound. I just couldn't keep her here, and really didn't want to send her home alone. I want you to report to the infirmary first thing in the morning to have it cleaned, do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," he says.

He should have protected her. She's his wife, and she was taken on her way back from the gym. He should have been with her, watching her, protecting her.

-0-

Years of doing watch in the middle of the night have allowed Jack to develop the rare talent of a mental alarm clock. He can simply tell himself to wake up at any time of the day or night, and he will. So three hours after Sam falls asleep, he wakes up. He watches the form of his sleeping wife for several minutes, feeling powerfully grateful that she is back home where she belongs.

He reaches over to take her pulse.

"No!" she screams, jerking away from him and curling in the corner of the room.

"Sam, it's me. Oh, God, I'm sorry!" he exclaims.

"Jack?" she asks, with relief clear in her voice, "Oh, Jack, I'm sorry," she says, reaching out a hand to him.

He crawls down on the floor next to her sitting, shoulder to shoulder. He's been through enough trauma to know that a hug is not that different from restraint, "I'm sorry, I should have told you before we went to bed. The trade-off of you coming home tonight was that I was supposed to check your vitals a couple of times during the night. I'm so sorry that I scared you."

"Even if you had warned me, I probably still would have freaked out," she says, snuggling into his body more fully, "I'm really glad I didn't have to spend the night in the infirmary," she says with a shudder.

"I'm sorry Sam. I should have protected you."

"You think you should have been with me 24 hours a day?" she asks incredulously.

"If that's what it took, yeah," he says, putting a protective arm around her slowly, carefully, and giving her shoulder a firm squeeze only after he is sure she can tolerate the weight of his arm on her shoulder.

"Jack, if you were around me 24 hours a day, I think I would probably kill you. Besides, they might have just taken us both, or worse, they could have killed you," her voice sounds wet at the last words as if it is drenched in tears.

"Sammy," he says softly, "It's okay, we're both here, we're both safe."

She takes a few deep breaths, and then obediently hands her wrist over to his hands. He gently takes her pulse. It's a little bit fast, but what could you expect from someone huddled in the corner of the room in the middle of a panic attack?

"Is this hurting your shoulder?" she asks gently, glancing at the arm that isn't around her.

"It's fine," he says, and she almost believes him.

"I can't believe you got shot rescuing me," she says.

"I'd do anything for you," he says, kissing her forehead.

"Jack when I was laying there on that table, I thought I was going to die."

"Shh!" he says, kissing the place where her hair meets her scalp. He doesn't want her to flip out again. He already has a feeling that Janet would be pissed if she knew that Sam had reacted like this, and he had no intention of bringing her in. He is pretty sure that if she freaks out again he's going to have to drive her to the infirmary.

"Jack, listen, it's important. I was laying there, and I only had one regret. I mean, my job is amazing. I've done everything professionally that I could ever want to do. I've got you, and that's amazing," she says with a smile.

"The regret?" he asks.

"I want to have kids," she says.

He glances at her critically trying to keep the grin off his face. "Are you going to change your mind in a few days?" he asks.

She shakes her head. He can see in her eyes that her decision isn't going to change.

"Yeah, babies," he says, now allowing himself that smile, "Do you want me to retire?"

"No," she bites her lip, "We'll have to figure out something for the over-nights."

"I'm sure Janet would be willing to help, or we could get a nanny."

"Maybe it's selfish," she mutters, with regret in her voice.

"Having a kid?" he says with a laugh, "Oh honey, that is the least selfish thing in the whole world. You are going to give up your sleep…"

"I don't do a whole lot of sleeping anyway," she says.

"Okay, then giving up working long hours," he points out with a grin.

"Well, you have been telling me to get a life," she retorts.

"Goodbye expendable income," he retorts.

"We've got to much crap anyway."

"Goodbye sex life," he says again.

"I'm sorry, Jack, are you trying to talk me out of having your baby right now?"

"No, I'm just teasing. I want to have kids," he draws small circles on her arm, "There is one thing that I have to ask you before we get to serious about this, though. I'm not trying to talk you out of it, but when you consider this you might just change your mind, and I'll be okay with it if you do."

"Is this about Charlie? Because I know that you are an amazing father. I trust you completely."

He flinches a little at that. "No, Carter, although that would be another reason not to have a kid with me. I was talking about the fact that I am a lot older than you. There is a good chance that at some point - ten years, twenty years from now, I'm going to be the one to die first. I just want you to know that you have an above average chance of raising kids we have alone or with an old man who can't help you much."

She is silent for so long that Jack thinks he's just talked the woman he loves out of what she wants most in the world, and then he hears her soft voice. "Jack, if you're going to leave me, you'd better leave a little baby with your genes behind."

It's going to be okay. He knows in that second that everything is going to be just fine between them.

"You ready to go back to bed?" he asks softly.

"Yeah, if you could wake me up before the next vital check, that might be better for both of us."

"You've got it Carter," he says, and they slowly stand up and separate themselves from each other.


	10. Baby Making

_Three Weeks Later_

Jack is late for a briefing, which is weird, because he's the only member of SG-1 who is _never_ late. Daniel marches down to his office, to see him fast asleep on top of a large pile of memos. There is a spot of drool on one of them, and when Daniel calls his friend's name Jack sits up with another memo still stuck to his forehead.

"Are you ok, Jack?" Daniel asks in surprise.

"Yeah, fine, I just might have dozed off," he says, sounding a bit confused.

"You've been really tired lately, Jack," Daniel points out.

"Yeah, well," he glances at his watch, "The briefing!" he jumps up and starts walking down the hallway.

"Ah, Jack, why have you been so tired lately?" Daniel asks running to keep time with the older man.

"It's personal, Daniel," Jack says in a way that clearly lets the younger man know that the subject is closed - at least with Jack.

-0-

Sam's eyes are drooping, too, Daniel notices during the briefing, just not as much as Jack's. They must have had a fight or something. No, that can't be it, because Sam looks happy. Like weirdly happy. He'll have to talk to her about it later. He's going to make a lot more headway with her than he ever would with her husband.

-0-

Daniel walks into Sam's lab carrying the largest and best coffee that this Earth has to offer. "Hey, Sam," he says.

Her head is resting on the table, but she is still working. Her eyes strangely wiggling back and forth across the page of figures and graphs before her.

"Are you okay?" he asks, putting the coffee in front of her.

"Yep!" she says cheerfully, sitting up and looking downright cheerful.

"Um… okay, what's going on?" he asks, confused.

"What do you mean?" she asks with a hint of a dreamy look in her eyes.

"I mean, you're exhausted; Jack's exhausted," he says. Sam's cheeks go a bright shade of red at his words, and he says, "You're kidding! You've been married for what… eight months? And you're still at the stage where no-one gets enough sleep? Good for you," he slides the coffee up to her, "You're going to need this."

Sam is tempted by the delicious smell. She remembered what it was like to have coffee pouring through her veins, but when she decided that they were going to try for a baby, she took everything very, very seriously. She hasn't had any coffee or alcohol or sea food. So she reluctantly pours the coffee down the drain.

-0-

Sam hasn't been working as long hours ever since the two of them decided to have a baby. She's sleep-deprived enough without adding a seventy-hour work week into the mix. When Jack comes home, he can't help but be relieved by the fact that his wife isn't home yet. He immediately collapses on the couch and falls into instant sleep.

He's awoken three hours later by his wife's hands running over his chest.

He groans before he's awake enough to stop it.

"What's wrong? Did I hurt your shoulder?" The bullet wound has been healed for over a week, but she still fusses about it, because she feels as if it is all her fault. If she hadn't gotten kidnapped, he never would have gotten shot saving her.

"No, can we just skip this tonight?" he asks, using his own hands to flick hers away with a dismissive gesture.

"Jack, we're trying to make a baby," she says in a honeyed voice.

"I know Sam, and we've been trying three times a night for _weeks_ now. I think you might be confused. You didn't marry a young man. I'm tired. I just want a break. It's not like _the_ day you ovulate or something is it?"

"No, we've got about four days before that," she says, but she looks disappointed.

Great, he's offended her. He turns himself sideways so he only takes up half of the couch, and pats the couch for her to lay down next to him. She obeys, and once he has his arm wrapped around her he says, "See, this is nice."

"I'm sorry, Jack. It's just… trying to make a baby was exciting. I liked it. Every time I was just thinking… maybe this is the one that will give us a kid. I was excited."

"Umm," he makes the sound, and it radiates from his chest into her body, "I read somewhere once that baby-making sex is the hottest sex a woman will ever have."

"Yes," she says nodding relieved that he understands.

"Also the least hot sex that a man will ever have," he says.

She sighs, disappointed.

"Listen, taking a few days off right before our best chance will improve our chances. Can't we do other things for a few days? Hold hands? Cuddle? Sleep?" he pleads.

"Yes," she agrees.

-0-

 _The next day_

When Sam opens the door to her house, she is greeted by the smell of pot roast. "You made dinner?" she asks, giving him a quick kiss.

"Check out the laptop," he says, gesturing his head toward the table.

She goes over, and giggles when she sees that he has uploaded one of those software programs where you can combine two people's pictures to see what their kid would look like.

"I didn't want you to think I wasn't excited about this thing we're doing," he tells her.

"How long did it take you to find the most ridiculous combination our faces could make?" she asks.

"About an hour," he teases.

-0-

 _Four days later_

"I have a surprise for you," Jack says, getting up as soon as their lovemaking is done. Today is their best chance of making a baby this month, and waiting a few days certainly made it more exciting.

"Jack, I'm supposed to keep my legs up for a while," she protests.

"I know, I wasn't expecting you to move," he says, heading to the closet.

She is surprised that he actually knew that. Did he actually do her assigned reading? "Jack, did you read the conception chapter in my baby books?"

"Yep," he says cheerfully emerging from the closet with a triangular pillow.

"Where did you find that?" she asks with a giggle.

"Well, actually, it's made so people with severe disabilities can sit up by themselves. We're actually using it backward," he says as he angles it under her legs. "More comfy? You want a foot massage while you wait?" he asks laughingly.

"I'm not pregnant _yet,"_ she says.

"You deserve to be spoiled even if you're not having my baby," he says. Then he gets a wicked grin on his face, "If not a foot massage, how about a little something to suck the sperm down your cervix."

"You're horrible at talking dirty," Sam accuses.

"Yet you were foolish enough to marry me," he says using his hand to begin the fulfillment of his promise.


	11. Back from the Abyss

_6 Months Later_

His jumps as he regains consciousness. "I got out?" he asks.

"Yeah," she says, standing to be closer to him. "You okay? Janet says that you're going to make a full recovery. You've got some withdrawal from the sarcophagus ahead of you though. Do you know how many times you were in it?"

He shakes his head.

"You were only missing a few days, so it shouldn't be as bad as it was with Daniel. Do you need anything?" she asks.

"Water," he rasps.

She leaves the room to get it for her, and Daniel appears. Daniel glances into the hallway wondering if he should say anything. It's really none of his business. "You're going to be a father," Daniel says.

"Yeah, we've been working toward it for half a year now," Jack replies. He never really shared this with Daniel, and doesn't want to think about how the man knows that.

"Um… right, but she's pregnant, 'bout two months along. It's a little girl with Sam's intelligence and hair and your humor and eyes."

"How do you know this?" Jack asks.

"I sense it. Listen, I'd really love to stay, but…"

"You've got your journey, and I have mine?" Jack guesses.

"Something like that," Daniel says with a sad smile.

"Are you going to be all right?" Jack asks.

"We both are."

Sam comes back into the room, holding the water.

"Somethin' you wanta tell me, Carter?" he asks.

"What?" she says coming closer, and holding the water to his lips. He takes a long sip of it before saying, "Thanks," and looking at her stomach.

"How the heck did you know?" she asks.

He smiles at the way she sounds like a little kid with its hand caught in the cookie jar, "Daniel told me."

"Daniel?" she asks, raising her eyebrows and looking around the room.

"He's gone now," Jack tells her.

"But he was here?' she says with a raised eyebrow which clearly shows she doesn't believe him.

"Never mind. Did you know before I left?" he asks.

"No, I didn't find out until two days later."

"But you knew when you went on that rescue mission?" he says.

She nods her head.

"Unbelievable," he mutters, "You want a kid so bad. It's all you think about. Then we get one, and you go into a Ba'al torture chamber with it? Do you even know what that place was like?"

"No, can you tell me?" she asks softly.

"So help me, Carter, you are not going to be my therapist when it comes to this."

"Did Daniel happen to mention of if the baby is all right?" Sam asks.

"Some reason to think she isn't?" he asks. Daniel would have mentioned it if there was something wrong with the kid, right? Why didn't he ask?

Just then the Janet comes into the room, "I see you're awake, sir. How are you feeling?"

"Well, I just found out that Sam went to save my ass while pregnant, so not too happy."

Janet freezes.

"You haven't told Janet?" Jack asks, turning to his wife in horror.

"She would have reported it. I had to save you," Sam protests.

"Hold it, how far along are you?" the doctor asks, having unfrozen, and now looking with fury upon the woman before her.

"Nine weeks," Sam says.

"And how long have you known?" Janet asks even more angrily.

"Around a month, a few days after Jack went with the Tok'ra."

"Well, I know you can't go to another doctor because of that little protein present Jolinar left you, so I can only assume that you haven't been to a doctor, even though you were pregnant when you contracted an alien virus that we cannot cure or control. Do you know what effect that might have on a baby?"

Sam looks terrified as she mutters, "No."

"Well neither do I!" Then Janet realizes, "The ultrasound you borrowed a few weeks back. That was not for some piece of alien technology was it? No, that was for you to play doctor with. Last time I checked, you didn't have a medical degree! And then you went on a dangerous mission, through the Stargate. Even though we don't know the effects of the Stargate, or even for that matter what the Naquadah in your blood will do to that kid."

"Teal'c assures me that women have been traveling through the gates for generations while pregnant, and that former hosts have had kids before."

"And where did he get his medical degree from?" Janet asks, grabbing needles.

"Whoa! Back away from Sam!" Jack demands.

"Sir, I need to get blood work on her _immediately,"_ Janet says in a way that makes it clear that 'immediately' meant last month.

"I'm sure that's true, but you're angry right now, and I think you could get a nurse to do that," Jack says, raising half way out of his hospital bed.

Janet's professionalism returns, and she spins out of the room.

Jack wants to scold his wife, but her guilt is written all over her face. "Have you at least been taking care of yourself? Sleeping enough, eating real food?"

"I told Teal'c as soon as I found out. He volunteered to be the father to this kid until you came back. He took his job a little too seriously," she says with a smile, "For a man who refuses to drink 'bovine lactose', he sure pushed it on me."

Jack smiles. It's good to have friends.

A nurse comes in a few minutes later, and draws blood from Sam, "I heard you're having a baby," she says with a smile.

Sam nods.

"Congratulations."

"Thanks," Sam says.

Jack feels like a heel. It took a nurse (whose name he can't even remember) to celebrate this baby.

"Doctor Fraiser will do an ultrasound after she talks to the General," the nurse says nervously, zipping out of the room.

Sam flinches.

"Carter, when the withdrawal gets bad, you take that baby out of here." She starts to object, but he lifts his hand to stop her, "There are people who can watch me."

She nods. She's put this kid at risk enough already. Besides, if her husband has a flash back, and ended up hurting his child, he would never forgive herself.

He smiles at her, "We're having a kid."

-0-

Janet is calmer when she returns to the room more than a half hour later. "If you think you're staying with him when the withdrawwithdrawal gets…" he begins.

Her friend cuts her off though, "You tell me when it's too dangerous, and I am going to leave."

Janet nods, "The General wants to see you when we are done here. Let's get a look at your baby," she says pulling the machine close.

"No heartbeat?" Jack says with panic at the silence.

"This machine isn't made for prenatal care. I can see the baby's heart beating, though," Janet assures him, touched by his panic.

"Janet, I'm sorry," Sam says touching her arm, "When I didn't tell you, I screwed up as a soldier, a mother, and a friend."

Janet's mouth pinches closed. She hadn't realized until now that part of her reaction was personal rather than professional.

"The baby looks fine. I'll let you know when the blood work comes back," she says, with no ice in her voice, but no warmth either.

"If I hurt the baby by not coming to you right away I'll never forgive myself," Sam pleads.

Janet knows that her friend needs her forgiveness. Even though she really doesn't want to offer it, she knows that she needs to. "Yes, you will. You were making sure that your baby didn't have to grow up without a father. You lost a parent, and you didn't want that to happen to him."

Sam nods.

"The General's waiting," Janet says, giving her a pat on the knee.

-0-

As soon as Sam sits down across from the General, he slides a picture across the table. "Do you know who they are?" he asks.

"They are your grandkids, Kayla and Tessa," she says.

"So let's pretend you walked in here this morning to go through the gate, and I put Kayla's hand in yours. I asked you to walk through that gate with that little girl. Take her to the hell hole where they torture people with gravity and acid. Would you have taken that little girl into that place?"

"Of course not, sir."

"Yet, that's exactly what you did. You took that little baby into a combat zone. Not to mention ignoring regulations that you need to inform your commanding officer right when you find out pregnant. I feel like letting you slip in one rule makes you feel like you can slip in them all."

"I'm sorry, sir. I felt like I needed to get the baby's father back."

"There are plenty of people that that could have got him back, Samantha."

Sam fidgets before him, "I'm sorry, sir, but can we get to the punishment part of this? I'm about to throw up."

"Morning sickness?" the Generals asks with sympathy.

"Well, that and I'm really not used to being in trouble."

The General smiles, remembering Sam at eight years old ratting out his daughters for eating extra desserts. "That's why I decided to come up with something that wouldn't ruin that perfect record of yours, but you are not going to like it. Technically I don't have to ground you from flying or guns until five months. Since I can't trust your judgment to back off when you need to, I'm grounding you from that now. I'm restricting you to fifty hours a week for now, by your third trimester it drops to forty. I don't think it needs to be said that there will be no going into combat, and you're going to need a written letter from Dr. Fraiser before I let you through the gate. I'm giving these restrictions to your husband, to Teal'c, and to the entire science team. You've got a lot of people who love you, Carter, and if you refuse to take care of the kid, I'll authorize them to."

"Sir, with all due respect, this isn't enough punishment."

The General smiles again. Eight-year-old Sam had requested more punishment, too. "The real punishment, major, is the thought of what you did to your little kid."

Sam pushes the picture of his grandkids back across the table.

"Keep it, a Grandpa always has more pictures," he grows soft with the word Grandpa. "I don't know what your plan is for when the two of you are off-world after the baby comes, but you've got a volunteer, major."

She stares at him, heart full and heavy. The cruelest thing he could ever do is be kind.


	12. Reveal

"How are you feeling, Jack?" Jonas asks with that goofy smile that only he can pull off.

"Better," he says, and that's honest. He feels a whole lot better than when he was being tortured.

"I thought I could stay with him tonight, if you are okay with it, Sam," Jonas says. He really wants her to say yes, but he doesn't really think that she is going to. Her husband has been tortured, and as badly as she needs sleep, they both probably need to be together worst.

"Thank you," she says gratefully. When she says his surprise and adds, "I have been banned from spending the night here because I'm having a baby."

Jonas's eyebrows go up, and his already wide grin goes even bigger, "You guys are? Well congratulations! That's just the most amazing news I've ever heard!"

She smiles, and places a light kiss on her husband's forehead before she slips out of the room. Before going home, she swings by the gate room to put a call in to the Tok'ra. It's time that she started telling people about this baby. Her father isn't there, he must spend just about all of his life on those crazy missions from what she can tell. So she leaves a message, "Tell him to contact Earth when he has time. There is no hurry, and no bad news," she informs the Tok'ra on the other line.

Then she heads home for the best night of sleep she has gotten since her husband went missing.

-0-

 _The Next day_

When she asks how Jack's night was, she knows that both of them are lying when they say "good". It's not like nightmares and bad sleep come as a surprise after what he has been through, though. He seems well enough. He's shaky from the withdrawal, but he doesn't look to bad.

"I brought you good stuff for breakfast," she says, holding up a box of fruit loops.

"Nauseous," he says, turning away.

"Me, too," she says, pulling crackers out of her purse and offering him some. He takes some gratefully, and chomps on them.

"Are you okay enough to give your parents a call about the good news?" she asks, earning a huge grin from him. She takes out her phone, and puts it on speaker. "Mrs. O'Neill?" she asks when she picks up.

"I've told you, honey, call me 'mom'," comes the reply.

"Right, sorry, mom," she forms the world lovingly, thinking about how soon she is going to hear that from the mouth of her own baby. Jack smiles at her, reading her thoughts.

"How is everything going, dear?" the older woman asks with no small amount of concern at the nervousness she heard in Sam's voice when she first picked up the phone.

"Yes, better than all right, we're having a baby," Jack breaks in.

"What? Really?" Mrs. O'Neill is delighted by this fact, but also a little bit confused. Last she heard, they weren't planning on having any kids. She doesn't know about the half year of hoping and waiting that came before this announcement.

"We, ah… decided we wanted kids a while ago, and we didn't want to tell you until we had good news," Sam says. Part of what went into that decision was the fact that they didn't want to explain about the kidnapping that lead to her decision to have kids. Sam can't help but hope they don't ask for the logic behind her decision right now.

"Well, congratulations, honey! When are you due?"

"We've got about seven months left," Sam says, placing a hand on her stomach.

"Oh, honey, this is so exciting. Will you guys hate it if I come visit you before too long?" she asks timidly. Maybe she should save up all her visits for after the kid arrives. She doesn't want them to get sick of her, now that there is even more at stake.

"Well, work is going to be pretty busy for the next couple of weeks," Jack says, hoping that his mother isn't going to figure out that 'too busy' is a code word for really, really sick, "We'd be happy to see you after that, though, Mom."

Jack grabs Sam's hand as the conversation with his mother continues. After that phone call ends, they put in a call to her brother.

-0-

"Mom, is Sam going to be on-world for chess this week?" Cassie asks casually as she sets the table Thursday night.

"I don't think so," Janet says. It's a lie, but she'll tell Sam not to come. It's maybe not very fair to her daughter, but she really doesn't want to see her.

Cassie looks at her mom's face in concern, "Is something wrong with Sam?"

"No," Janet says, turning back to the dinner that is so close to being done that it doesn't really require her attention.

"Is there something wrong with Jack?" Cassie asks with equal concern.

"No, love, they are fine," Janet says, working hard to force fake cheer into her voice.

"Something is going on. Are the two of you in a fight or something?" Cassie asks.

Janet sighs, "I shouldn't let that affect you. I'll leave for a couple of hours, and you can see Sam. Jack is in the infirmary, so he won't be able to make it, but he's fine."

"What did she do?" Cassie asks.

"It's not important."

"Sure it is, maybe I need to be mad at her too."

Janet smiles at her daughter's defiance. "She's pregnant, and she went on a very dangerous mission without telling me about the kid."

Cassie blinks in surprise, that really doesn't sound like the Sam she knows. "Is the kid okay?"

"Yes, luckily."

"Why would she do that?"

"Well, Jack was in a lot of danger. She was rescuing him."

Ah, now that makes a whole lot more sense. "Well, you can't blame her for that. You do crazy stuff like that for your family."

Janet sighs, and nods her head. She's going to have to forgive the woman before too long, she just isn't very excited about the prospect.

"I'm going to have a cousin," Cassie says with a wide grin.

-0-

 _One week later_

"Hey, kiddo!" Jacob says as he enters the infirmary. He came to the infirmary for the patented 'welcome to earth' probing, and didn't expect to see his daughter sitting next to the bed of her husband.

"Dad," she says, standing up with excitement to hug him.

"Jack okay? I heard that you got him back. I assume that was the good news that you hinted about in your message."

"He is doing just fine, but actually that was only half of my good news."

"Really?" Jacob says, pulling away from the hug and giving a pat on the shoulder of his son-in-law.

"You're going to be a grandpa again," she says.

Jacob grins, "Oh, good for you, good for the both of you," he says, offering another round of hugs.


	13. Return

_Four months later_

"You've gotten big," Jack says, placing a hand on her stomach.

"That's a rather dangerous thing to say to a pregnant lady," she warns.

"How long was I gone, anyway?" he asks. For the first part of his time 'in paradise' with Maybourn, he'd tried to keep track of how much time had passed. Sometime after the grass he'd been eating started messing with his mind and when he'd been in bodily danger, he'd lost track.

"You were gone for anther whole month. I'm starting to think that being pregnant with your baby is a horrible plan if it means you keep skipping out on me for months at a time," she teases lightly, but he can see that there is real panic underneath it.

"Everything is okay, though, right?" he asks tenderly.

She nods.

"So, was Daniel right about the little thing being a girl?"

"I don't know."

"We were only a few days away from finding out when I left. How do you still not know?" he asks.

"I didn't want to find out without you. Janet knows," she says.

"Well, get her in here and let her tell us! You've got to get that in that obsessive little baby book of yours," he says. Sam has created her own baby book, because she could not find one that was detailed enough for her own taste. It's already more than twenty pages long, and includes the pregnancy test that Sam took in a plastic bag, much to her husband's disgust.

She laughs, and goes to get Janet.

"You two are having a little girl," she tells them.

Jack squeezes her hand in such an excited way that Sam finds herself wishing that she could find a way to memorize that on a piece of paper for her daughter to look through in the years to come.

"You'd better stop disappearing on this little girl now," Sam warns one more time.

-0-

 _Three Months Later_

"Please, Janet?" Sam begs.

"Are you seriously asking me to clear you to go through the gate when you are less than a week away from your due date?"

"Come on, you've cleared me for safe missions before. If I go into labor, it wouldn't be hard for them to get me through the gate. Jack will be right there. Besides, Daniel has delivered babies before," she says, cheering at the word 'Daniel'.

"He doesn't have any memory right now, Sam."

"I know," she says, more deliberately and more honestly, "And that is what I want to try to fix. He's part of our team, Janet. If you think it's dangerous, I won't go. I'm not going to risk this kid again, but I really don't think it is."

Janet sighs, and nods her head. "So help me, Samantha, if you get so much as a back ache or the faintest of Braxton Hicks contractions, you get back here, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," she replies, eagerly bouncing out of the room.

-0-

Daniel's eyes get large as a very pregnant woman comes through the tent.

"Hi, I'm Samantha," she says cheerfully.

"Is… is it mine?" he stammers.

Sam chuckles, "No, you can go ahead and relax. I'm married to Jack, and this is our kid. You and I are just really good friends."

Daniel nods.

"Actually, several months ago, you visited Jack when you were ascended," she pauses, trying to figure out how to explain that to him, "You died, and turned into energy. Anyway, you visited Jack when he was going through a pretty hard time. You told him he was going to have a kid, and you were right about her being a girl."

"I'm sure it was just a lucky guess," Daniel says.

"No, I think you had some special knowledge."

"Well, if you're looking for more information, I don't have it. My memory has been wiped clean," he says, making a comical wiping motion over his forehead with his hand.

"I know that. I didn't travel across the universe with a stomach the size of an asteroid to interrogate you. I came here to see one of my best friends, and make sure he comes home with us. I heard that you weren't so sure you wanted to."

"I'm not sure that I know where home is," Daniel replies.

"It's with us. You have saved the world more times than I can even count, although Teal'c still keeps track. You are the most amazing, the most moral person that I have ever met," she says.

"Sounds like a lot to live up to," Daniel says.

"Well, it is but…" she says, suddenly grimacing as a contraction wipes through her body. She's not positive it isn't false labor, but she does know that Janet will kill her if she doesn't go back anyway.

"You're… you're in labor!" Daniel says with eyes bulging and a panicked expression.

"You shouldn't be panicking like that. You've delivered babies before."

"You don't want me to deliver your baby, do you?" he asks with alarm.

"No, but I would appreciate it if you could help me off the floor and help me back to my husband," she says, holding out her hands.

He lifts her up, and they exit the tent together, Daniel is calling, "Help! Help us!" the whole time.

"What's wrong?" Jack says, running up to the pair.

"I think the baby is coming. It's okay, I think we've got some time. I'm not even sure it's labor, but Janet would kill me if I wasn't really careful," she says.

"You coming, Danny?" Jack asks as he puts an arm around to support his wife, perhaps more than she needs, but she lets him, knowing that overabundance of caution makes him feel more safe.

Daniel nods. He might not remember these people, but he does want to make sure that they are okay.

-0-

"Are you ready for company?" Janet asks. It's been almost an hour since the baby was born.

"Who are we talking?" Sam asks, without removing her eyes from her baby.

"SG-1," Janet says.

Sam nods and smiles.

Jonas, Daniel, and Teal'c all enter the room. "Can you pass Leah around, honey?" she asks, passing the baby to her husband.

He hands the baby off to Teal'c, the nearest teammate. The Jaffa makes the tiny baby seem even smaller. His face is both soft and firm. After a while, he passes the baby on to Daniel.

"Is your memory coming back?" Sam asks the man with concern.

"Not really," he says, quickly passing the baby on to Jonas. "I probably don't really belong here."

"Oh, you belong here even if you don't remember us," Sam assures him.

"She's beautiful, guys. I can't believe how much hair she has," Jonas points out.

"Yeah, just like Daniel said before she was born, Sam's hair. The eyes are blue, though, so he got a miss in that department."

"A lot of babies who have blue eyes will have them change into a different color later on," Sam points out.

"Will your father be coming soon to become acquainted with the new member of his family?" Teal'c asks Sam.

"We sent him a message," Jack says, "My folks are on their way," he says, putting a defensive hand over his wife. He knows, in a way he didn't before he married her, that she is hurt every time her dad doesn't show up for something.

"I've already got family here," she says, smiling at the room.

Daniel feels a pull at his memory. Yes, that is right, these people are family.


	14. Adjustments

_Three days later_

"I am not going on the mission," Jack says, standing before his breastfeeding wife with his hands on his hips.

"Jack, you have to. This plan is crazy. It is the kind of crazy that only you would have a hope of pulling off."

"Sam, my daughter was just born! You want me to go on an insane mission across the world."

"Please, you're only going to be gone for a couple of days. Your parents are going to be here for the rest of the week. Leah and I are going to be just fine, aren't we, baby girl?" she asks as she pulls the baby up on her shoulder for a burp.

"Sam, I was gone all the time when Charlie was little. It's not something that I want to repeat with my daughter. You might tease me about having gone missing twice while you are pregnant, but it's not really funny," he says softly.

"Jack, save the world for our little girl, and come back to us," she says.

He surrenders, but holds out his hand for his daughter. She whimpers at being moved, but he sits down in the glider, and places the baby on his knees. He holds his hands over her stomach, making her feel secured, and she stops her fussing.

"Daddy loves you," he whispers.

-0-

"Mom, I just put the last diaper on this baby," Sam says, bouncing her tiny baby as she comes out of the baby's room. "How is that possible? It's supernatural how quickly we go through diapers in this place."

"I'll go get some," Mrs. O'Neill says with a smile, "That little one is still pretty small to be going out of doors."

As Mrs. O'Neill goes to the door, the bell rings, and when she opens it, she reveals General Hammond.

"Sir, welcome," she says.

"Since you guys didn't have a baby shower, I thought I'd just drop my presents by," he says, holding up two bags filled with diapers.

"Perfect timing. We're out! Thank you, sir," Sam says.

"I remember how fast we went through them when my girls were little. I plan on making a couple of different trips with arms full of diapers," he says with a grin, "Of course, once I get here I wouldn't object to having my hands full of baby." She hands the child obediently over, and he grins as soon as the baby is on his arms. "Little miss Kayla," he pauses, looking at Jack's parents, "My youngest granddaughter, informed me on her last visit that she was too old for cuddles with grandpa. So, I've got to go around borrowing babies now," he teases.

"Well, sir, this little angel could always do with more grandparents," she says.

"She going to be staying with me when you're back on missions?" he asks, bouncing the baby a bit as she begins to fuss.

"Jack and I really haven't made up our minds yet, but we do appreciate the offer," she says.

-0-

Jack slips into bed behind his wife, and puts an arm around her. He regrets it immediately, because he did not want to wake her up.

"You're home, did the mission go all right?" she asks, rolling toward him.

"It did, how about you?" he asks, blessing her cheek with a kiss.

"Fine," she says. She pauses, waiting for the next question, expecting the next question, practically begging for the next question to be asked. It doesn't come, "So you're not even going to ask about your daughter then?" she asks, with an accusation present in her voice.

He smiles which makes her even more furious.

"For the last two days I have been doing nothing more than thinking about our daughter, and you just waltz in here, and don't even ask one question about how she's doing…"

He's laughing, and she glares at him.

"Sam, I went into the nursery before I came in here. I actually spent about half an hour holding our baby girl, and peppering your mother with questions about everything that happened when I was gone. You never need to be suspicious that I don't miss our daughter enough."

She shares the giggle now, and buries her face in his chest in embarrassment, "Can we just chalk that up to hormones?" she asks.

"Sure. Too bad I don't have post-pregnancy hormones to blame on how much I missed my daughter."

Sam puts an arm around her husband pulling him closer to her. "It will be okay, Jack. You'll get used to it."

"What if I don't want to get used to it? When Charlie was little, I missed so much, and that haunted me. It haunted me even before Charlie died. Now? I'm not sure I want to deal with that guilt again, Carter. I want to retire."

"Jack," she scolds.

"Sam, I am old enough to retire. Why shouldn't I be a stay-at-home dad to my miracle baby?"

"Can you just wait to make any decisions until my maternity leave is up?" she pleads.

"Yeah, I can give you that," he says.

"You make me feel like a bad mom," she tells him.

"I can assure you that you are not," he says, nuzzling her closer to him.

-0-

 _A Week Later_

Jack hears a wail from his daughter, and crawls out of bed in answer to it. After a diaper change, it becomes apparent that his daughter needs milk. His wife is still the supplier of that, so he goes over to her side of the bed, and gently taps the woman that he loves on her shoulder.

When her eyes open they focus on him with no small amount of terror. "Give me my baby!" she demands.

"That was the plan. She's thirsty," he says, giving her over.

"Get away from us," his wife continues, terrified.

"What's going on, Sam?" Jack asks his wife.

"Jack!" she calls past him, like she's expecting him to come around the corner any minute now.

"I'm right here, honey, what's wrong?" he asks.

"You are not my husband," she says with a voice shaking.

"Of course I am! We got married off-world. Teal'c married us, and was totally confused about why we needed permission to kiss or make love."

"Jack?" she says.

"Yeah," he says, with a voice that sounds annoyed, but with a heart which is relieved that his wife at long last recognizes him.

"I think you should probably look in the mirror," she says.

He rolls his eyes, but obeys, and is shocked to see that when he does, it is a fourteen-year-old version of himself which looks back at him.

"I don't understand," he says.

"Neither do I," she says.

The baby is still fussing. "Honey, you've got to feed Leah."

"Can you, ah… leave the room?" she says. This modesty is unusual for her. She firmly believes that woman should be able to breastfeed wherever they feel like they want to.

He gives her a look of disbelief.

"Jack, you look like a little kid. I'm not going to whip out my boob until you're out of sight. Can you just go call the SGC while I take care of her, please?"

He leaves the room reluctantly.

-0-

She is glad to have her husband back in his own body. Well, he never left, really. The husband who has been helping her care for her daughter for the last week is not her husband. He's a clone. He would have died if Jack had done nothing, but her husband had spared his life.

Her husband looks at her as she nurses. "Sam… I have to ask," he says. She raises her eyebrows waiting for the question. "You and my clone, you didn't…"

"Of course not!" she exclaims in horror.

"Okay, well, you thought he was me."

"He was also a child."

"Right, but he didn't have a child's mind. We've got a pretty big age difference."

"If you'd started trying to date me when I was fourteen, I would have certainly said no."

"And Jacob would have beaten the crap out of me."

She nods.

He smiles somewhat reassured. The thought of his wife being with his clone shouldn't have bothered him, but it did. He was mostly worried that she would be tempted to be with a younger version of himself. He was too old for her in the same way that she was too old for his clone.


	15. Baseball

_Two months Later:_

"Welcome home, Sam. How did the mission go?" he asks.

"Great. It was a really good one to come back to. Big giant spaceship, in a big giant space race," she says giving him a kiss.

"Did you win?" Jack asks.

"No, things got a little complicated, and we… well, we lived. We stopped the evil guys, it all turned out okay. How is my little baby?"

"Oh, we got to show mommy our new trick," he says, handing the baby to his wife and grabbing a blanket he had sitting in the organized mess that he calls a living room.

"You have to stop calling them 'tricks', Jack, she's not a dog," Sam objects as her husband spreads the blanket across the floor. He takes the baby from her, and places her on her side.

"Is the trick laying there?" Sam teases.

"Wait for it," he says.

Just then Leah flops over on her back.

Sam kneels down to hover over her, "Hey there, baby girl! Nice job. Pretty soon you are going to be able to crawl away from this crazy man who is your father."

Sam scoops her up. "So, Jack, how did you do all by yourself with the baby for four days?"

"They were a little bit long," he confesses.

"I knew it, Jack. You need your job. That's okay. I'm sure that the General will take you back. It's not the first time that you've retired."

"I don't want to go back to working at the Stargate. Actually, I don't want to go back to working at all. More like volunteering. You remember the league that Cassie used to play softball for?"

Sam nods.

"I'd like to be a baseball coach. It would be a little more than an hour a day, four days a week," he says.

"Well, getting out of the house is a pretty important thing for a stay-at-home dad, I would think. I've got no problem with it. We'll just have to find a babysitter."

"Yeah, about that… I have an idea. Just tell me if it is too crazy… but what about my clone?"

She raises her eyebrows in surprise.

"He came and saw me not to long ago. He missed her. I mean, after all, he is basically me. I can't imagine what I would do if I found out that I could never see my daughter again. Carter, it would be good for him to see her for a couple hours a week, and who better to look after our kid than well… me."

"That sounds like a plan," Sam agrees. She pauses, making faces at her little baby girl. "Jack, is it going to be enough?"

Jack nods his head, as he traces a finger lightly across his daughter's head. Sam realizes that this is more about Jack's clone getting to see his daughter than about Jack needing to get out of the house.

-0-

 _One Week Later_

It's just a practice, but they still have an audience… of one. The kid has to be about eight years old, the same as his team. The difference is that this kid is on the other side of the fence. His fingers are clenched around the links of the fence, and his eyes are wide.

"You want to play, kid?" he calls over. The kid has blond hair, long for a boy: long like Charlie's was when he died, long like Daniel's was when he first met him.

The kid doesn't answer at first. Jack walks closer to the boy, and repeats the question.

"My mom says organized sports are a waste of time," the kid says, and looks down bashfully, "She'd never give me the money."

"Tell you what, kid, if ya wanta play, I'll let you play for free," Jacks says. He'll fill out the club membership and pay for the kid himself, but he has a feeling the boy is going to be a lot more open to it if he doesn't know that little detail.

"Yeah?" the kid asks.

Jack nods.

"I'm going deaf," the kid says, quite suddenly.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Jack says.

"So, if I don't answer, that's why. A lotta people think I'm just being a jerk or whatever, but my hearing is already bad."

"Good thing I talk loud, son," Jack says, "Batter up."

-0-

 _One Month Later:_

"Jordan, you know you don't have to clean up," Jack says. He messed up again. He knows that Jordan has to see him or he can't hear him. The kid claims that he doesn't read lips, but it's the only way Jack can explain it. He moves in front of the kid, and repeats his statement.

"I like cleaning," Jordan says. Then he pauses, "Well, I like cleaning when I can actually get something clean."

"What do you mean by that?" Jack prompts carefully.

"Mom lost her job _again_ , and we moved in with Darren. I counted last night and there were twenty-two garbage bags in the kitchen. It's normally my job to take out the trash, but, you know, twenty-two."

Jack's stomach churns at the thought of a little kid feeling responsible for it.

"I'm sorry, kiddo," Jack says.

"I wish I had a camera."

Freaking street urchin, Jack grumbles, he's playing me. "You're way too young for a camera."

"If I had one, I could take pictures of Christy," the kid says.

"And who is Christy?" Jack asks, thinking this little cherub has got to be too young for a crush.

"She's Darren's kid, but she's too little to hit back," Jordan replies.

"Whoa, who is hitting this little kid?" Jack asks.

Jordan is looking down, so Jack taps his chin so he raises his eyes, and then he repeats the question.

"I don't see him do it. But a little kid doesn't get bruises everywhere unless somebody's hurting them, right?" the kid asks softly.

"You're probably right, Jordan, and I am so glad you came to me with this. Has he ever hurt you?"

Jordan shakes his head.

"How old is Christy?"

"I don't know. Little; like three or somethin'," Jordan says.

"Are there any other kids there?" Jack asks.

"Yeah, my big sister Megan. She keeps telling me to keep my trap shut. She says that if I tell anyone what's going on, they are going to take us away from our mother."

"You're absolutely doing the right thing, Jordan, you have to make sure that little girl is safe. I'm going to need last name, address, phone number, okay, honey?"

"I'm scared to go home," the kid whispers.

Right, maybe this isn't a 'fill out a form' kind of thing. "How about you and I go and tell this story together? I won't leave until you're safe."

"'Kay. Megan has pictures of Chrissy's bruises on her camera."

Right, that's why the kid wanted a camera.

-0-

"How dare you!" The shouting echoes in the corridors.

"Mom," Jordan mutters, this apparently being something at least he has no trouble hearing.

"He is my son! Why is he at the police station, telling lies?"

The police officer's vice tries to calm her down, and Jordan looks terrified. The social worker doesn't miss that.

"He's not even in baseball!" Jack hears a shout a few seconds later. Right, that was probably a bad move on his part, enrolling the kid without his parent's permission. It seemed like it would be fine when he thought the kid was just neglected. Now with the mother screaming at a cop he was a whole lot less confident.

-0-

"He'll be put in temporary care," the social worker says.

"Okay, buddy, I'll see you soon," Jack assures him, even though he has no idea if he'll even see the kid again.

"No, you can't go," the kid says gripping him, "You said you weren't going to leave me until I felt safe. I don't feel safe."

He kneels down, "It's okay, Jordan, you and your sister are going to be spending the night at someone's house. Chrissy's going to another person's house; you're all going to be safe."

"Mom is really mad," Jordan says.

"I know, love, but you aren't going to be staying with your mom tonight."

The kid cries, and crumbles into Jack's chest. He looks desperately at the social worker. He wants to take the kid home so bad, but he is pretty sure that is just not the way that it works.

He gets a shake of his head which confirms his fears.

"Jordan," he says. Then he remembers the kid can barely hear. Jesus, it better not be because his mother screams all the time. He pulls away, "Jordan, you are going to be so brave. Right? How many times has your mom moved you?"

"I lost track."

"Okay, kiddo, this is just another move. Only this time, people have looked at the house before. They have made sure there are not twenty-two bags of trash in the kitchen of little kids getting hit, okay?"

Jordan nods.

"Can I give him my home number?" Jack asks the social worker. She nods, and he writes it down on a piece of paper and hands it to the kid.

"You were so strong, Jordan, so brave to tell people what was happening. You are going to be okay."

He wasn't, though. Not yet. In the two months that followed, Jack kept a stack of abuse/neglect forms in his baseball bag. The kid was bounced between mom's house and foster care again and again. She could have the kids back if she moved away from the abusive bastard. She could have them back if she cleaned her house. She could have them back if she took a parenting class.

Quietly, Sam and Jack begin preparing for the family they know might be coming. They buy a bigger house so Megan won't have to share a room with her brother. They get certified as foster parents. Jack continues coaching Jordan. After the practice, he lingers to clean up for twenty minutes, an hour, even two. After a game, Jack takes his whole team out for pizza, and Jack usually takes the boy out for ice cream after.

Sometimes Sam and the baby join them for ice cream.

Jack tries to get Jordan to bring his sister along. They all want to meet the mythical Megan. Each time Jordan replies with a cynical comment from the injured pre-teen in question.

Then the mom disappears for five days. When the food runs out, Megan calls 911, and this time they leave their mother forever.


	16. Home

"You must be Megan," Sam says, extending her hand to the eleven year old. Megan's hair is chin-length, and blond. It doesn't look like she's seen the inside of a tub for a while. She has blue eyes as cold as ice, and she doesn't extend her hand or say anything. Her face is so expressionless that she could give Teal'c a run for the money.

"You're going to be coming home with my husband and I," Sam says. The girl plants her feet on the floor firmly. Clearly she has no intention of going anywhere.

"Megan, come on, this place will be good," Jordan assures her. Jack isn't sure why the kid decided to trust him so completely, but apparently it's not unusual for abused kids to have a sort of protector radar. They can see it in your eye when you would die defending them, and they cling to you.

"They're the reason mom can't take care of us anymore," she accuses the adults.

"I think the words you're looking for are 'thank you', little missy, now get in the car," Jack says flippantly.

Sam and Megan turn to him with identical glares of distain.

"Megan, you need to go with these kind folks. You and I both know you can't stand in the hallway forever, and if we have to wait until you fall asleep and drag you to their house, it isn't going to be good for anyone," the social worker says.

"Fine! But if my mom chokes on her own vomit and dies because I wasn't there to take care of her, it's on you assholes."

"Eleven," Jack mouths to Sam behind the young girl's back, with shock on his face.

-0-

"What is this?" Jordan asks, staring at the grill.

"Steak, I thought you guys coming to stay with us would be cause to celebrate," Jack says.

"What are you doing to it?" Jordan asks.

"He better not be burning it," Sam says, walking out to examine the progress of the meat while holding the baby.

"I've just never seen… that," Jordan explains.

"Grilling, you've never seen grilling before," Jack says, nonplussed.

"I mean, I didn't know that people got meat that wasn't from a restaurant. I mean, like mac and cheese or pizza rolls, but…"

Both of the adults are staring at him.

"What?" he asks nervously.

"Jordan, are you telling me that you've never had a home-cooked meal before? You've never had food that started as like hunks of raw meat and fruits and vegetables, and became food?"

He shakes his head.

Sam impulsively leans forward and kisses his forehead. She can tell by his eyes that this is something that is new for him as well. It's over the line. It's way too soon, but apparently she got away with it, because he doesn't seem bothered by it.

"How is Meg?" Jack asks.

"She locked herself in her bedroom," Sam says.

"She does that a lot," Jordan says with worry.

"She is going to be just fine," Jack assures him. He doesn't need Jordan to be acting like an adult in worrying about his sister. They have real adults in their lives now.

-0-

Sam hears a noise in the middle of the night. Surprisingly, it isn't her daughter crying, but she is pretty sure it was one of the new kids in her house. When she enters the living room, she sees Meg with her head buried in the fridge.

"Jesus! I'm sorry. I'll go back to bed," she exclaims, jumping when she sees Sam.

"It's all right, honey. If you are hungry, I can cook you something."

"Cook?" Meg says sarcastically.

Sam forgot that was a foreign concept to these kids.

"Well, do you want me to heat up the steak?" Sam offers.

Meg crunches her nose. "You don't have any pizza rolls or anything."

Sam glances at the clock, "We could look for an all-night diner."

Meg's eyes brighten up. "Seriously?"

"Not going to let you starve, just let me leave a quick note for Jack."

-0-

Sam decides not to push Megan by making her talk while they eat. She remembers how long it took her to come around to her father after her mom's death, and she knew him beforehand. Of course, there had been the complicated fact that she had blamed her father for her mother's death, but if she was honest with herself, she would have to admit that Meg blamed Jack for getting separated from her mother in much the same way.

"Can I get dessert, too?" Meg asks with eyes shining.

"Sure, but it will cost you," Sam replies teasingly.

"I don't have any money," Meg points.

"Oh, it's not going to cost you money. Oh, no, it's going to cost you behavior. You are going to have to talk to me the whole time we eat it," Sam says with a wicked grin.

"Do I at least get to choose the topic of conversation?" Meg asks, narrowing her eyes at the older woman.

"Sure, whatever you want."

"X-files," Meg says with confidence.

"The TV show?"

Megan nods, thinking for sure that this is going to be a deal breaker. No adult is going to want to talk about what her mother referred to as 'that shit'.

"Fine, but no spoilers, I'm about a half season behind," Sam admits.

"What? You watch the show?"

"Sure. Are you going to be offended if I point out the inaccuracies? It drives Jack nuts when I do that. That's actually why I'm a half season behind. He refuses to watch any science fiction with me anymore. Since the baby entered the picture, I really haven't had that much free time anyway. We should watch it together sometime."

A tiny smile forms in the corner of Megan's mouth. She might be as hard as nails, but love is like acid to this little heart that's never known it, and acid of course dissolves nails.

-0-

 _The Next Day_

"Please, I am way too old to have someone walk me to class," Megan rolls her eyes.

"I need to meet your teacher."

"Well, can you do it sometime when I'm not around? You are so embarrassing!" Megan begs.

"I'll walk a few steps behind," Sam says, bowing to the girl's will gain. She wonders if she will ever reach the point where she feels like she is giving the girl she calls her daughter directions, instead of taking them from her.

The woman standing at the door to the classroom is young, almost impossibly young for a teacher. She greets Megan, and Megan is just about the only student who skirts by without a fist pound and a "Good morning, Mrs. Greenberg".

"Hi, I am Meg's new foster mother, Mrs. O'Neill," Sam says, extending her hand.

"Nice to meet you," the woman says with a wide grin, "The girl has had a bit of a run of hard luck lately, hasn't she? I hope she will be able to say with your family for a while."

"Well, we'd like to keep her and her brother forever, but we might not have control over it."

"Well, that's good," the woman smiles, "Will she be going back on her medication then?"

"Medication?" Sam asks in surprise.

"Yes, she has a prescription for ADHD medication, but her mother didn't believe in it. She became quite angry whenever I discussed it with her."

"Yes, I am familiar with the woman's volume," Sam mutters causing the teacher to let out a very quiet giggle. "I wasn't aware she had problems with focus," Sam looks at the girl poking the boy in front of her. She should have guessed.

"I feel sorry for her. She tries so hard. It sometimes takes her seventeen or eighteen tries to get through one long division problem. I put her in her own little study area, and it does help her focus, but she views it as punishment, and the girl has a hard enough life," the teachers speaks the last words in a whisper that alerts Sam to the surprising fact that her husband has probably not been the only one filling out those abuse and neglect forms that he got so familiar with.

"I'll contact a doctor about it. If you have any questions or comments, I'm leaving our contact information with the front office."

"I'm so glad to have met you, Mrs. O'Neill," the woman says with a smile.

-0-

"Hello, welcome to class," a teacher in her sixties greets Jordan with both words and sign language. Jordan pushes past the teacher into the classroom, only slightly less embarrassed by his guardian than his older sister.

"Jordan knows sign language?" Jack asks in surprise.

"No, I've been trying to teach it to him, and the whole class, ever since I found out that he was losing his hearing. He insists that he is fine, and he doesn't need it. I thought having the rest of the kids learn it would help, but it didn't."

Jack blinks. Jordan told him the first time they met that he was going deaf, not that he was just hearing impaired. Since then, Jordan had seemed so normal, listening better than most kids to make up for his lack of hearing, that Jack had sort of forgotten about the future part of his diagnosis.

This kid isn't just hard of hearing, this kid is losing his hearing.

"Are you… his somehow?" the teacher asks.

"Yes, sorry, my wife and I are his foster parents, and we are looking at the possibility of adopting him and his sister. My name is Jack O'Neill."

"Pleasure to meet you," the teacher says, giving him a hand shake which his firm and long. "You should talk to the school nurse about his hearing. She tried to convince the mom to get hearing aids. I know that she was really against it, but the nurse says it's going to make his hearing deteriorate faster."

Anger boils in Jack's heart at the idea of the mother letting some kid go deaf out of neglect.

"I'll stop by, thanks," Jack says.

-0-

When the kids are all in bed that night (a bit late, Sam let Megan stay up to watch an episode of X-Files with her), Jack hands Sam a sign language book.

"What's this?" she asks.

"I think we'd better start learning. The kid is going to need it to communicate one day, and he's too afraid of being different to learn it. The teacher is a gem that is teaching it to the whole class to try to lessen that, but I think he's going to need to know that he's always going to be able to talk to his family."

"Wow, yeah."

"I found a class… Tuesday night. Jon will watch the girls. Should we pull the trigger and register?" Jack asks.

"We should invite Meg to come. If she doesn't want to, we should probably not push it."

He nods. His wife is good at this whole making people feel like they are family.

"The kid probably needs a hearing aid too. Something like that we need to go through official foster care channels, and his mom is dead set against it, even if it is going to make her son go deaf not to get it."

"Bastard."

"Worst case, we take care of it after we adopt them. I'm tempted to pull some strings and get it rushed."

"Not yet," Sam cautions not wanting to have to go there unless it was really necessary. "We're going to have to look into get meds for Meg. Apparently she's got ADHD, and mom…"

"Refused meds," they say together.

Jack squeezes Sam's hand harder than necessary. She can tell that he is just barely holding in his fury.

"Jack, they are going to be fine now. They're safe now."


	17. First One

_One Week Later_

Jack feels awkward as he sits in the sign language class. There is a smattering of teenagers in the room, but most of the people are couples with babies. Sitting there with an eight-year old, he feels like they must look at him as downright neglectful. He'd love to explain why he's here. That he hasn't even known this kid that long, and has only been responsible for them for a bit more than a week, but he knows that would hurt Jordan's feelings. So when they go around the room to introduce themselves he just gives the signs for 'wife' and the fingerspelling of 'Jordan'. Megan elected not to come.

His brain and fingers are old for this, learning a new language, and he's not as good at it as everyone else in the room.

The teacher, a deaf woman in her fifties, uses her arthritis knotted fingers to help him form the words sometimes.

Sam is a genius at the vocabulary, but her grammar is horrible. They keep telling her that she "talks like a book".*

Jordan doesn't sign at all. He just sits on his hands and stares past the teacher as if she was a ghost. Even though he hates his mother, and in every other respect has stopped following her mandates, he follows her in this.

Learning sign language will make him a bit less normal, and he's completely normal.

-0-

 _The Next Day_

"Colonel Carter," Sam says, answering the phone.

"I'm sorry… I was trying to find Mrs. O'Neill," the voice of Meg's teacher says, sounding confused.

"I'm sorry, this is Mrs. O'Neill. I use my maiden name at work. Is Megan okay?"

"I don't know, she won't talk to me, and she insists on seeing you," the teacher says, sounding uncertain.

"My husband is a stay-at-home father. I'll give him a call and have him drop by."

"She really insisted that it could only be you," the teacher says with an apologetic voice.

-0-

When Sam arrives at the classroom, it is empty of all but the teacher and a figure she hopes will be her daughter. The teacher nods her head quickly, and then walks out of the room.

Sam bends down next to the chair, "Megan, are you okay?"

"I'm sorry you had to leave work," the girl whispers.

"That's okay. Can you tell me what's wrong?" Sam presses.

Megan stands, and Sam can see a wide red stain on the back of her pants. "Oh, honey," Sam says, taking off the jacket of her BDU's to wrap it around the girl's waist.

"That is pretty cool. Where did you learn to do that?"

Sam smiles, "I guess it's a side effect of living through the 90s." There is a mark on the seat of desk, and Sam glances around the room until she finds some hand sanitizer and tissue to clean it up.

"I'm so sorry about this," the girl says, blushing.

"It's a part of life, kid, and I think maybe we should take the day off, okay? Go home, change, and then go shopping?"

"Yeah!" Meg says.

-0-

Two hours later the two of them are sitting in the food court sharing a plate of nachos. In addition to the few necessities of the trip - to prevent the poor girl from ever being caught in the splash zone like that again - they had bought a few new outfits.

Although Meg went to the mall every single Saturday with her friends, she had never bought much of anything. The small wardrobe she had was all bought at cheaper stores that her mother would frequent when she wasn't even there.

When Sam offered to buy her something, she knew right what to go for. When Sam told her to pick out something else too, her eyes lit up in this special hungry way that made Sam tell her to get two more outfits.

"Thank you for taking me in, even though you didn't want to," Meg says.

Sam blinks at her in shock, her stomach twisting that this child could even think that, "What makes you say that?"

"Well, Jack bonded with my brother over baseball, and the social workers probably said we were a package deal or whatever, so you ended up with two kids for the price of one."

"Megan, we wanted you. From the second that we found out you existed, we knew you belonged in this family. We sure would have liked to get to know you before you came and lived with us, but we wanted you."

"Why do you treat us so differently then?" the girl asks.

Sam feels a little bit of anger at the girl's words, but is careful to keep it out of her face. If anyone has a case for favoritism, it isn't this girl, "I don't see us letting your brother stay up late to watch violent shows, or letting him skip school to go shopping."

"Exactly my point," she says, scooping up way too much cheese on one chip, and dropping some on her shirt in the process. Sam reaches over to wipe it off with a sad smile, scattering Megan's self-critical thoughts about needing a freaking bib. "You give Jordan chores and stuff, and with me you just do what I say. I mean, I shouldn't complain. You're letting me live with you. It's just that he gets to be your kid."

All this time Megan's been asking for a limit, testing her boundaries. How had Sam missed that?

"Meg, I have been letting you slide because I felt like we needed a connection before I could come down hard on you. You've had a rough life, and I didn't want to lay a bunch of rules on you when you barely knew me. I love you, and I really want you to be my daughter. I just didn't to start off by driving a wedge between us."

Meg looks down, "I had a rough life because no-one paid attention to me."

"Well, love, right here… I am paying attention to you. I'll start cracking down on the rules. How about in order to go out to eat once a week like you like, you have to eat five meals with the family. Not pouting in your room, but with the family."

Meg grins.

Sam goes for more. "You can watch one episode of sci-fi after your brother goes to bed, with either Jack or me, whoever isn't putting the baby to sleep, so long as your homework is done."

"Started?"

"Done."

"Attempted?"

"Done, and you can ask for help if you need it."

"Can we get some ice cream?" Meg asks.

"Only if you eat some salad first. After this, we are going to have to go buy a book. There is no way you can get new outfits without getting a book to read."

"I don't read for fun."

"A book for us to read to you. I do know the very best sci-fi," Sam temps.

-0-

 _Two Months Later_

"What does the baby want?" Megan asks.

Sam picks the child up, feeling her rump. It's not her hungry cry. "Maybe she just wants to snuggle," the baby quiets at the word, understanding it already, "Yeah, snuggle, love?"

Megan stares at Sam.

"What is it?"

"I just didn't know… parents did that," Megan says.

Sam looks at her, "Most people don't cuddle kids your age, but if you want…"

Megan nods. Sam sits down on the couch, and holds out her arm. Megan sits down next to her, and leans against her new mother figure. Sam can feel all the protective layers peeling off the young girl. Megan breaths out a velvety sigh, "You and Jack are the first ones who ever really loved me."

Sam doesn't doubt it, but what a tragedy it is that someone can live in this world for eleven long years without a single person ever loving them. It is past time to call in favors to rush the adoption. They have to get this taken care of right away, even if it means calling the president himself.

-0-

 _One Month Later_

Megan comes off the school bus with an arm around her little brother. Whatever protective feelings that she used to have for her mother have transferred to her brother ever since her mother has been removed from her life.

There is a huge cake on the table, and it has a picture of the little family all together.

"What is going on?" Jordan asks.

Jack moves over so that his son can see his mouth move. He signs the words as well, they've reached the point where they can sign at least the main words in a conversation now. Not that Jordan actually looks at the hands as they move, he's still focused on the lips. "Well, we've got the paperwork filed. If you guys want to be part of our family, we can adopt you tomorrow. So we thought it was cause for celebration, and celebration always means cake!" Jack exclaims.

"Yes!" Jordan exclaims, giving both of his guardians a huge hug.

Megan looks like she has just been slapped in the face.

"What's wrong?" Jack asks.

"Adoption?" Megan whispers.

"Yes," Sam says, touching her shoulder lightly.

"So that means you talked to our dad. You got him to say we're not his kids?" she asks.

"Dad's a loser, what does it matter," Jordan quips.

"Shut up! You don't know anything about it!" Megan shouts, the old Megan, the Megan that was around before three months' worth of love.

"I'm sorry, honey. Jordan told me that he didn't remember his father a long time ago, before we had met you. I never considered the fact that you were older, and might feel differently about him," Jack says softly.

Megan turns her brother so he's facing away from her, and his bad ear is closer to her mouth, and then she whispers in a tone that he is certain not to overhear, "He left. He left because I was a freaking hyperactive nightmare, and Jordan was deaf. I thought that if we ever just… if we could just be normal, he would come back for us."

Sam is about to speak to her softly, out of sadness, but Jack's anger speaks first. Thank God for the anger of a good man, "Well, he doesn't deserve you. Anyone who can't love their kids no matter what just plain can't love their kids. If you want me to say I'm sorry that I took you form him, I'm not. If you want me to apologize for not asking you first, I should, but I won't. You're my kid, and I'll protect you from anything. Your daddy doesn't get to break your heart anymore."

Her lips quivers.

Jordan turns around, frustrated by being excluded, "What did you say?" he demands.

"We were talking about how we love you," Jack says.

Jordan glares him, unbelieving.

"Your sister is mad that your dad didn't want you, and we said it's ok, because we want you so much," Sam says with, just enough of a touch of honesty in her words that she hopes the kid will accept it. Apparently, it is enough.

 _*Author's Note: My name sign, by the way is "book talker". However, the "talker" sign goes on for like three times the normal length, so there is the added implication that I talk too much._


	18. Bigger Boat

_One Month Later_

"What did he say?" Jordan whispers to Jack. The judge has a beard, which always throws the boy off in lip reading.

"Just a second, Sir. I'm sorry, my _son_ is having trouble following," Jack says. He kneels down before the boy, making his lips eye-level and tilts his head to the light. He doesn't want the kid to miss a word. He signs as well as speaks. The signs at this point are more about not having to explain why he's just repeating the words of the judge. He's sort of giving up on the concept of Jordan ever learning sign language.

"Meg, do you want to be adopted by these people?" the judge asks after a few minutes more of legal speak.

"Yes, sir," she says. She's in a dress. It's the first one that she's ever worn. She's more of a sweatshirt and jeans kind of a girl. Then Sam entered her life. Sam, with her skirts and dangly earrings.

Meg wanted to get her ears pierced, but she couldn't yet. She was still in foster care, and as long as she was in foster care, there could be no piercings, or haircuts, or hearing aids, or ADHD medicine. That's all going to change pretty soon.

"How about you, son?" the judge asks.

Jordan grins at that word coming out of Jack's mouth, even though he knows it is coming to him through the judge.

"Yes!" he says, a bit too loud. It's hard to get the volume right when you have a hearing loss. Usually, Jordan goes too quiet, and not too loud.

"All right then, if the parents would come sign these papers…" the judge says. Jack and Sam eagerly go up to obey. Then they turn to their new children, and give them a hug.

The rest of SG-1, plus the General, Cassie, and Janet, are sitting in the first bench. Sam reaches out her arm, and Cassie hands Leah over to her. The little family of five all join together in a group hug.

-0-

 _Two Weeks Later_

"Cassie," Sam says, touching her hand. The teenager is sitting by the bedside of her dead mother. She's not crying, not moving, just sitting in stunned horror.

Cassie turns to stare at her in shock.

"Honey, come with me," she says. She's worried about how much shock this kid is in, but at least she seems to be able to obey commands. She stands and follows Sam. The nurses look grateful as they start working on Janet's body.

They are in the elevator before Cassie whispers, "I don't have anywhere to go."

"You're coming home with me," Sam says with certainty.

Cassie shakes her head.

"Your mother and I arranged it when she first took you in. If anything ever happened to you, then I would take care of you. I didn't think it was very likely, because I was always in more danger than she was. I never saw this coming."

Cassie's lip twitches.

"You've got a home with us."

"I don't really need a home. I'm eighteen."

Sam laughs. Cassie turns to her in surprise. She doesn't feel like anyone should ever feel like laughing again, not now that her mother is dead. "If you think I'm going to leave a teenager alone to grieve just because she's passed some arbitrary birthday, you're crazy. You're going to come live with us until you go to college, and as you need after that. You're not alone, Cass, we're your family."

"You promised my mom to take me a long time ago, back when you didn't have any kids. Now your house is bursting with three kids, you don't have to keep that promise. I can stay at Mom's house by myself for a couple of months, and then we can sell it when I got college."

Sam shakes her head, "Your mother's daughter deserves more than that."

-0-

In the two weeks since Megan and Jordan have become O'Neills, there has been no shortage of changes. Jordan has hearing aids. He claims that they hurt his ears, and he frequently removs them, but he owns them none the less. Megan is on her ADHD medicine, which gives her stomachaches on the frequent occasions when she forgets to have something to eat when she takes it. Her ears are different, too, still a bit red from the piercing they have undergone a few days ago. She was supposed to keep the studs in all the time, but she has gotten in the habit of waking up in the middle of the night, removing the studs, and putting in the sort of dangly things that her new mother liked to wear, if only for a few minutes, before replacing the studs.

Jack and Sam have reached a level where they signed whenever they were talking, even if it is just the big highlights of the conversation, but the kids hadn't really caught on to their habit.

"Cool, you guys sign?" Cassie asks as soon as she enters the house and sees Jack's fingers flying.

"When did you learn?" he asks.

Cassie doesn't actually speak for the next bit, she just forms the words with her mouth silently, "I took it as an elective when I was in junior high. Julie and I talked to each other with it ever since, it's like a secret code for us. I've never gotten to use it with an actual Deaf person before. I never realized Jordan signed."

"I don't, and I'm not deaf," he says with offense.

She blinks at him in surprise, "I meant like Deaf with a capital D, not a small one."

"I don't know what that means," Jordan says, although he would if he'd been paying attention in his sign language class.

"It means Deaf as in a part of Deaf culture. A person whose native language is sign, whose cultural identify is Deaf."

"That's not me. I'm normal, and I don't even sign. It's definitely not my native language. I speak English."

"Deaf is normal, kid," Cassie says.

"Can you talk with your voice? I don't know what you're saying," Megan says.

A wicked idea crosses Jack's mind, "Actually. I'm going to declare Saturdays 'silent Saturdays'. Sign language is the only accepted language on those days."

"I don't know how to sign!" Meg objects.

"Exactly. You've had months to learn, and neither one of you has made much progress in that department. This will be a good motivation to get you going."

-0-

"We are going to have to get Cassie a real bed. I don't want her to be on that air mattress for more than a night. It's going to make her think she doesn't belong with us," Jack whispers. He and his wife are standing in the hallway of their home, looking at the three bedrooms which contain their children. Cassie has been put up for the night on an air mattress in Meg's room, her brother is next door, and the baby is sitting in Sam's arms, tucked into the nook of her shoulder, thinking about falling asleep.

"We should probably get her bed from Janet's place, and some her stuff, anyway. That room's kind of small. We might have to ask Meg to put some of her stuff somewhere else," Sam replies.

"Only question is where," Jack agrees.

"Jack, before the zatarc, did you ever think we'd be married with five children?" she asks with a coy smile on her face.

"Four."

"Five."

"Samantha, our family might be growing at an unfathomable rate, but I think I can still count our children." He points to the girl's room, "One, two," Jordan's, "three" and the baby in his wife's arms "four".

She grabs his finger and points to her stomach, "Five."

He laughs, kissing her.

"I know it's a little unexpected. We did plan on two biological kids. We just sort of got a little sidetracked with the three adopted kids. It's okay, isn't it?" she asks insecurely, honestly not that sure how her husband is going to react to their rapidly-expanding family.

"It's wonderful. There is just one thing. I think we are going to need a bigger boat," he quips.

"We'll start house-shopping in the morning," she replies with a girn.

-0-

 _Three Days Later_

Jordan walks into the sign language class, and pulls the hearing aids out of his ears. They don't hurt as much as they used to, and the doctor says that if he would just leave them in all the time he'd get used to it faster.

Pain isn't really the reason why he's taking them out this time.

The world is loud, and sometimes he finds himself longing for the world he knew before he got his hearing aids. The world where he could think without people constantly breaking in.

"Deaf is normal," Cassie had told him.

The teacher greets the class, and they all respond in sign language. He's sitting on his hands the same way he has been for months, but he lets one of them slip away, and he touches his forehead in the mini-salute that means "hi" in sign language.

The teacher grins at him, and fires the first review question in his direction.

With perfect syntax and a very classical hand font, he fires back a response. It turns out, the last few months, Jordan has been learning sign. He just wasn't using it.

-0-

 _The Next Day_

"I'm telling you that I don't have any homework," Meg says with her hands on her hips.

"Okay, and I'm telling you that I don't believe you. You've had homework every solitary day since we took you home," Jack says.

"I know, but I don't have any today. I got it all done in school."

"Planner," he says, extending his hand with a raise of the eyebrows.

She hands it to him, and he asks her to produce every bit of work that was assigned. Not only is it done, but it's done well. The correct answers are written in handwriting which is still recognizable as hers, but only a little neater.

"How?" he asks.

"They said I would have to take the medicine for a couple of weeks steady before it really kicked in. I've never had my medicine every day before. It's… I didn't know I was smart."

Jack grins, "Well, I did! Yep, wasn't fooled at all."


	19. Christmas

_Two Months Later_

"Sam, our daughter locked herself in the room, and refuses to come out," Jack informs his wife while juggling Leah, who always turns into an octopus when she wants to be put down.

"Which daughter?" she asks.

Jack gives a glare.

"You're right, that is a pretty stupid question. I'll go talk to Meg."

Sam knocks on the door. "Go away!" a voice says from within.

Sam opens the door. Her daughter is buried under a blanket on her bed. "It's Christmas, come to dinner."

Meg doesn't respond.

Sam pulls the blanket down. "Honey, what's going on? Are there just too many people here?"

"They act like they know me."

"Hon, you have talked on the phone or e-mailed all of these people. Jack and I have been bragging you up even since before you came to live with us. These people do know you. They are family."

"Jordan and I got lucky with you and Jack," the girl whispers.

Sam's stomach clenches, "Are you worried our families are going to hurt you?"

She shrugs.

"Well, I vouch for every single one of them. I wouldn't have invited them to our house for Christmas unless I thought that my kids were going to be safe with them," she assures the little girl.

"I'm not worried about them like physically hurting me," she whispers.

"Well Meg, I'm not going to say that I've never got my feelings hurt by these people. I've had some problems with both my father and my brother in the past. I will say that they are going to love you, and not ignore you. If they hurt your feelings, your father and I will tell them off, if you let us know. I also know that you can't spend the rest of your life hiding away from the world so you don't get hurt. Your heart is strong, kid. You're stronger than you think you are."

"Can we cuddle a little bit before we go out there?" Meg asks nervously.

"Of course," Sam says, crawling into bed behind her to spoon her.

-0-

"Hey, is this my little granddaughter?" Jacob asks when Meg and Sam emerge from her bedroom.

"Hello, sir," she says, extending her hand.

"Is there a ban on hugs?" Jacob asks.

Meg giggles, and then hugs the older man.

Jordan signs a comforting phrase over the man's shoulder.

"Dada!" Leah screams.

"Which one?" Jack asks with a sigh, already knowing that the kid can't be referring to him, because she is in his arms. "Dada" is the only word the kid knows, and she uses it to ask for anyone.

Leah points to Sam, and then moves her arms like she's swimming through the air in an effort to get to her.

"I'm Mama," Sam tells the nine-month old.

"Dada," Leah corrects with an incredulous voice.

"Of course, how ridiculous. You're completely correct," Sam teases.

Mark and his daughter enter the room. Lisa looks up Meg and decides that the three years that are between them are not too much, "Do you want to play?"

Jordan signs, "Yes," behind her which is like turning your wrist into a little nodding head. He nods so frantically that he hurts his wrist. He grabs onto it.

"Sure," Meg says, and the two head to her room.

Leah's arms and legs wiggle frantically. "Hey, let's do the sign language for this," Sam says pointing down. The baby does, and Sam puts her down. She begins crawling toward the tree, and Sam keeps an eye on her as she turns to her brother to talk.

"Motherhood becomes you," he says with a smile.

"You sound surprised," she says

"I am, a little. I don't mean it as an insult. It's just that you've been good at everything you did your entire life. I didn't really expect you to be good at this, as well. But you are," he says.

By now, Leah has made it over to the presents and is trying to rip the presents open with her thumb nail. Sam starts to go and get her, but Jordan is closer and he scoops the girl up and hands her back to her mother.

"Soon you'll have two babies to hold," Jordan warns in sign language. Jordan adds a new word he just learned, "Mother?", only he messes up the sign for 'mother'.

She laughs, and gives her son a quick lesson. She holds up an open hand, and places a hand on her forehead saying the word "father" then on her chin "mother", exaggerating the word, then she does the sign that her son did, putting a hand on her nose, "swear word".

His eyes go wide, "Sorry," he says, with his hand rooming around his stomach a really long time showing how sorry he is.

"It's fine, son," she says, giving him a quick hug.

"Dada!" the baby demands.

"Honey, if I knew what you wanted, I'd give it to you," his mother tells him.

"Dada," the baby demands again.

"Point, love," she urges. The baby points to her uncle, and then before either adult can react, she leaps into the man's arms.

Mark is a father, so he catches the baby, "Everyone's your Daddy, huh?"

"Dada," the baby agrees.

"You have a lot of opinions for just that one word," Sam says.

"Mom, can we go play outside?" Meg asks.

Sam turns to her with a tear in the corner of her eye. "Megan!" she says, hugging her.

"Jeez, don't make a federal case out of it!" she exclaims.

"Yes, go play, frolic," Jack says, pulling his wife away from his daughter.

"She called me mom," Sam says, as if her husband must not have understood that.

"Yes, she did, and we want her to live long enough to say it again," he cajoles.

"Thanks, dad," she says, and soon Sam is prying her out of her Jack's arms. "By the way, that's your Christmas present," Meg quips.

"I should have thought of that," Jordan mutters.

"All right, everyone between eight and sixteen outside," Jacob says with authority, herding them out of the room with his arms.

"God, I love our kids," Sam says, leaning against her husband.

"Mama?" Leah asks, extending her hands to her father.


End file.
